


Only the Music

by Lady_Phenyx



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Dancing, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Oblivious, Slow Burn, rainbow snowcone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-01-01 06:09:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 56,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Phenyx/pseuds/Lady_Phenyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>And there’s only the music</i>
  <br/>
  <i>That plays on and on,</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Yes there’s only the music</i>
  <br/>
  <i>The heartaches are gone</i>
  <br/>
  <i>We can stand close together</i>
  <br/>
  <i>While the world dances by</i>
  <br/>
  <i>‘cuz there’s only the music </i>
  <br/>
  <i>Between you and I.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Though pain and joy, victory and loss, Jack has danced through life. He doesn't know it yet, but it's given him quite a reputation - one he and the Guardians are only now learning about.</p><p>Fill for the <a href="http://rotg-kink.dreamwidth.org/2389.html?thread=4987733#cmt4987733">Dancing Fool</a> prompt on Round 3 of the kink meme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Thank You For the Music

**Author's Note:**

> _Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk_   
>  _She says I began to sing long before I could talk_   
>  _And I've often wondered, how did it all start?_   
>  _Who found out that nothing can capture a heart_   
>  _Like a melody can?_   
>  _Well, whoever it was, I'm a fan_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _So I say_  
>  _Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing_  
>  _Thanks for all the joy they're bringing_  
>  _Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty_  
>  _What would life be?_  
>  _Without a song or a dance what are we?_  
>  _So I say thank you for the music_  
>  _For giving it to me_  
>  _Abba, Thank You For the Music_

The wind slowed and Jack tumbled out of the air onto 'his' lake. For a minute he thought he had it, then his foot slipped and he went sliding across the frozen water, laughing and tumbling the whole way.

Flying was harder than it looked. At least this time he hadn’t been dropped into any trees or run into anything. 

It might be easier if someone were around to explain something, anything, to him, but for now, he’d just have to keep trying on his own.

He was about to give it another go when he thought he heard something from the village, carried to him by an obliging wind. Like the elephant’s child, Jack had to know, so he leapt into the wind.

He’d been mostly avoiding the village since that first night that he rose from his lake and found himself walked through, but tonight he chanced it as the noise he was following grew stronger and his curiosity demanded satisfaction.

Jack followed the noise until he found the house it came from and stared hungrily through the window to watch the people inside, trying to ignore the frost that formed when he leaned too close. 

Words came to him, though he didn’t know how he knew them - _fiddle_ and _music_ and, strangest of all, _dance_ \- as inside, couples passed each other in lines, moving quickly along to the bright, cheerful music that warmed the room as much as the fire in the hearth did, taking hands and letting go, spinning around each other in patterns and laughing.

Taking frequent glances through the window, Jack began to copy the dancers. Without a partner to correct him, it took him awhile to catch onto the pattern and the cadence of the steps, so he began to make up his own, admiring the frost that spread under his feet, caught up in the spell of the music and the dance, cape flaring out around him as he spun, adding twists just for the fun of feeling it flare around him.

Without knowing how he knew them, the words flowing without conscious thought to match the singers inside, he began to sing along. Laughing, he bowed and dipped, his song faltering as he danced and needed to catch his breath. 

Eventually the dance ended and the party broke up, the people calling out cheerfully to each other as they began to bundle up and head into the night and their respective homes. Kicking off from the ground before anyone could walk through him, Jack flew back to his lake, still humming the snatches of music he could remember.

Landing on the frozen surface, he kept humming, practicing the dance he’d learned until he was sure he would remember it, the steps coming easily now as if from a half-forgotten dream.

When he was sure he would remember, worn out and laughing, he fall back into a snowdrift and called down more snow to cover him like a blanket, hugging his staff to his chest and dropping off to sleep to dream of a room full of dancers sweeping him off to join them in their dance, welcoming him with open arms and quick, clever feet.

 

Every day Jack practiced, on his lake, in the air, to any scrap of music he could hear or remember. 

He practiced his balance and flying and eventually fell less and less until he could walk along roofs and branches, even along the ridgepole of the roof itself as easily as the ground, and then until he could dance along them as if they were as solid as the earth itself.

As winter ended in ‘his’ town and the weather began to warm, the wind urged him to let it take him away and, as the last of the snow melted and he began to feel restless, he did, letting it carry him to other countries where the snow still fell. 

They danced differently there, and as he watched suddenly Jack knew – he was going to learn them all even if it took him the rest of his seemingly immortal life.


	2. Tsuki no Waltz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Nemurenu kono tamashii wa (This sleepless soul)_  
>  _Anata wo sagashi mori no naka (Enters the forest, looking for you)_  
>  _CHANDORA MAHARU no ouji-sama ga (The Prince of Chandra Mahal (the Palace of the Moon))_  
>  _Hizamazuite WARUTSU ni sasou (Kneels and invites me to waltz)_  
>  _\- Isayama Mio, “Tsuki No Waltz (Waltz of the Moon)”_  
> [Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8ivevOXdjY) (Ignore the first 40 seconds, please. They're from a different song.)

He should probably be moving on, Jack knew. Winter was nearly over in this part of the world, and while Spring could be nice enough, she was unpredictable and tended to overreact if he stuck around longer than she thought he should. 

Right now, though, the light snowfall he was making perfectly suited his mood, and he couldn’t have stopped if he’d tried. There had been another ball last night, the humans celebrating something or other, Jack had no idea why they’d held a ball and didn’t really care. All he cared about was listening to the music and watching them dance, the women in satins and silks with jewels gleaming on hand and throat, the men in fine black suits and white gloves, and he’d finally gotten close enough to see just how a waltz was danced.

He flitted around the meadow he’d chosen for his dance floor, spinning and dipping his imaginary partner. He was pretty sure he wasn’t following the rules precisely, but he was Jack Frost, he didn’t really do rules.

If it had been colder, he would have made a partner of ice to practice with him, but it wouldn’t have lasted long enough for a proper dance in this weather. As it was, he had to settle for imaginary…and he wasn’t sure if it was more lonely to dance alone or with a partner he’d created. If only he had someone who could see him to dance with…

The scent of flowers filled the meadow, the flowers that sprang in Spring’s wake the way frost did in his, and from behind him Spring yelled his name. The rest of her rant washed over him as he kept dancing – desperate for attention he may be, he still could tune out a scolding with ease. Struck with a sudden idea, he changed directions, sweeping Spring into his dance.

She yelled at him some more as they twirled, her soft blonde hair, unbound but for the flowers braided into it, flaring around them, her green dress swirling about her just as Jack’s cape did about him, but didn’t pull away despite her protests. Jack’s grip on her hand was firm yet loose enough she could pull free if she wanted, his other hand resting lightly on the small of her back as he led the dance around the meadow, flitting as lightly as his snowflakes, the pair of them barely touching the ground.

By the second rotation around the field she had stopped yelling, staring up at Jack with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, gripping his hand much harder than he had hers, her fingers digging into his shoulder as the meadow blossomed with frost tipped flowers.

Laughing, Jack dared to give her a spin. Spring was gaping up at him now as he hummed the waltz they were dancing to, eyes sparkling and grin wide enough to split his face, swaying them gently in time to the song he remembered. 

By the time he dipped her as low as he dared to finish the dance her whole face was flushed and her eyes were gazing up at him with stars dazzling them. 

He held that dip for as long as he could, their eyes locked they stood frozen, both barely daring to breathe and break the spell of the moment. Feeling his arms start to burn, he eased them back up, their gazes only breaking as he set her back on her feet.

He started to worry a little when she just stared at him. He wanted to have a little fun and spread his good mood, not break Spring! 

Struck by a sudden thought – and hey, they’d worked out so far – he bowed and kissed her hand, the way he’d seen the men do to the ladies they liked last night. As he rose from his bow she giggled, blushing and fussing with her dress and hair with her free hand.

“Well…um…I suppose…a little more winter wouldn’t hurt…” she murmured as he released her hand. Jack gaped at her for a second before beaming, grin stretching so far across his face it almost hurt.

“Wow, really? Thanks, Spring!” he said. 

If anything, she blushed harder, giggling as she drifted away, still starry-eyed and flustered. Jack let out a whoop and took to the skies, ready to play a little while longer.

Dancing was awesome, but way better with a partner. He had to try that again, and soon!

 

E. Aster Bunnymund poked his head out of his tunnel and cursed soundly. Winter was supposed to be over _early_ this year! 

Pulling himself from the tunnel, cursing again at the bite of snow under his paws, he set off. Easter wasn’t going to be stopped, even if certain irritating winter spirits didn’t know when to back off. At least it wasn’t a blizzard, he’d really give that show pony a piece of his mind if he tried a trick like that.

During his third trip, he spotted Spring. “Oy, sheila!” he called, hopping over toward the spirit, who was staring up at the sky with a dreamy grin and quietly humming a waltz. “What gives with the snow? Weren’t you gonna take over early this year?”

She started before giggling. “Oh…um…I gave Frost a couple more weeks,” she said, the faraway look coming over her face again. She blushed and giggled some more before falling back into the snow, almost snuggling against the frozen stuff, and Bunny watched her for a minute before deciding she wasn’t going to be any more forthcoming. 

Bloody sheila was acting weird…well, weirder than usual. Bloody Frost’s fault, obviously. If he saw the winter spirit, he was going to give the so-called “Shepherd of Winter” a piece of his mind for messing Spring up so badly! He risked another glance over his shoulder at the still-giggling and blushing spirit and narrowed his eyes. Girl was a strange one, all right, but…what in the name of the Man in the Moon did Frost _do_?


	3. I Have a Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I have a dream, a song to sing_  
>  _To help me cope with anything_  
>  _If you see the wonder of a fairy tale_  
>  _You can take the future even if you fail_  
>  _I believe in angels_  
>  _Something good in everything I see_  
>  _I believe in angels_  
>  _When I know the time is right for me_  
>  _I'll cross the stream - I have a dream_  
>  _\- Abba, I Have A Dream_ Link 

Jack had been out of the lake a little over two hundred years now, and he’d decided that dancing was up there with snowball fights and sledding for his favorite pastimes. If nothing else, he could dance even when there wasn’t anyplace to bring snow that wasn’t already saturated with it.

Sometimes, when the pain of being unseen and unheard got to be too great, he would use the dances he’d learned for release and relief. It was less painful than screaming into the wind (when he started screaming he couldn’t stop until his voice gave out, forced to be silent for weeks afterward) or creating blizzards (they were part of the job but when he let his emotions create them they went out of control and the children were hurt by them, and he didn’t want them hurt, not the children, never the children), and somehow, more satisfying. 

He watched dancers all over the world and mixed parts of all their dances into his when he danced for himself. 

The rapid movements of eastern belly dance mixed easily with flamenco or tarantellas, the ballet and the oriental dances all changed to suit his mood, playful or angry, sorrowful or painful. The best was when the wind partnered with him for a _pas de deux_ or held him for a lift, giving his spins extra height and catching him in his _tours en l’airs_ and _sautés_ , holding him for the lowest floor moves in his belly dance or lowering him into a dip before letting him tumble into gymnastics, all of it mixing into a cohesive whole, flexible and expressive and _free_ as he slid across the ice of his lake with grace or violence, all of them letting out his pain at not being seen, his anger and fear that no one ever would or his joy in a winter night, any mood that caught him and needed expressed in ways he couldn't put into words.

Tonight he was in a gentle mood, and he mixed his dance styles into that mood as he flew over the city, dancing across roofs and telephone lines, leaving his trademark frost behind him in his steps, looking down at the children with soft eyes. His frost made interesting patterns when he danced it, different from how it looked when he simply walked or let it form under his hand, and he made a mental note to see if he could control it sometime, maybe even make pictures or words out of the frost. That should be funny, if he could get it to work.

Landing on a lamp post, he pirouetted, spinning gently on its slick surface. Coming slowly to a stop he crouched on its small surface, watching the city as it began to slow and fall asleep. 

He glanced up at the moon and sighed. It wouldn't answer him, and tonight, at least, he didn't feel like trying and being proved right.

As the Sandman’s golden streams began to fill the air, he smiled, cheered by their golden glow. He began to sing, quietly at first and growing louder as he grew bolder, a gentle lullaby-like song he’d heard a few weeks ago. 

He took to the air, unwilling and unable to stay in one spot any longer, and danced through the air as he sang. For a few minutes he could pretend that the Sandman approved, that the streams of golden sand were being sent to dance along with him as he spun among them.

The streams wrapped around him, lending to the illusion. They danced through the sky, following him as he spun and dove, wrapped in a lacework of gold glittering against his pale skin and hair, gilded white and gold against the backdrop of velvet night and diamond stars.

As his song finished he slid carefully out from their embrace and bowed quickly to the cloud the Sandman rode on high above him, blowing a kiss in lieu of his usual hand kiss before flying off quickly. No way he was getting close enough to the Sandman for that, especially since there was no way the man had known Jack was there. 

Someone as important as the Sandman was way to busy to dance with Jack.

If he had looked back, he might have seen the small golden man watching him leave with mixed amusement, curiosity, and worry, wondering just who that was and wishing with a soft regret that he hadn't run so quickly.

Sighing soundlessly, he turned back to his dreams as the other spirit – so very young still, barely more than a child – flew away. Much as he might have liked the other to speak to him, he had his work to do.

Still, he'd enjoyed the dance. Maybe next time he could surprise the winter spirit with one.


	4. Jump, Jive, and Wail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Baby, baby, looks like it’s gonna hail_   
> _Baby, baby, looks like it’s gonna hail_   
> _You better come inside,_   
> _Lemmie teach ya how to jive & wail_   
> _\- “Jump, Jive, & Wail” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZhrWfbdbzQ_

Although Jack loved so many kinds of dance, some of them could only be done properly with a partner, and though Jack used to have to create them out of ice, it was slowly growing easier to swoop down on unsuspecting spirits and whirl them into a dance. 

It was almost like they were hoping for him to do it. Well, some of them at least. Some spirits were so prim and stuffy they wouldn't know fun if it ran up to them starkers. It was still odd, but...it meant fewer spirits were attacking him on sight. If anything, they were pausing to wait – and he could talk things out with them, which seemed to scare most of them.

Of course, no one really expected a Winter spirit, even if he was the Spirit of Winter – or perhaps especially if – to seek out company for anything other than a fight, it seemed. And to try and talk – or dance – things out? Unheard of, if their reactions were anything to go by. Jack wasn't sure – he'd been rejected so many times in the first hundred years, he didn't stay to find out after the dance was over.

Sometimes it worked out better than others – Cupid, who he’d expected to be a dainty little thing, had turned out to be a man almost as huge as the famous North, and had been incredibly enthusiastic with the much smaller winter spirit, bodily picking Jack up to swing him around to the strains of a polka coming from the wedding they’d crashed, roaring with infectious laughter, while the less said about the time he’d tried dancing with Baba Yaga, the better. 

Still, it usually worked out. Usually.

He’d found he loved the ‘hot’ dances, like the tango or flamenco – and no one expected a Winter spirit to be able to do those dances, full of heat and fire, challenge and fight, which made their surprise all the sweeter. 

In fact, he loved every dance he’d tried, be it slow or fast, salsa or waltz or rumba, sweet and romantic or hot and defiant, any style or speed or taste. At the moment he found himself loving swing dancing the most for the sheer joy and exuberance of the dance, sharing his fun openly as he spun the selkie he’d surprised into a dance into a jumping dip, her legs locking around his waist as she bent backward, her hair nearly touching the ground before she snapped her body back up to face him, grinning almost as widely as he was. 

All too soon it would be over and he’d have to fly away before the spell was broken, but for now, he was touching another spirit, held another’s hand in his, and for the moment it was enough.

They kept dancing to the enthusiastic music pouring from the converted warehouse by the docks they’d met at until near dawn, when the humans themselves were exhausted and the music trailed off. Jack kissed her hand, as he had every partner, male or female, since that first dance, and she blushed furiously as she slid back into her sealskin and into the water, giggling and glancing back over her shoulder at him as he flew away quickly.

It seemed like he was finding partners more and more often lately, almost like they were seeking him out, and he wasn’t quite sure what to think of that. On the one hand, the attention was good…on the other, it was odd. They didn’t have conversations, not really, and he didn’t stick around after the dance to be chased away. Maybe someday, but until then, he’d been rejected enough to not bother waiting around for it to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Jump, Jive, ‘n Wail” is one of my favorite big-band swing songs. I know next to nothing about swing dancing except that it looks like a hell of a lot of fun, and this song never fails to get me on my feet.  
> Jack, baby, spirits are starting to be curious about you, if you’d just stick around and take a risk. :(


	5. Let's Dance to Joy Division

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Let's dance to joy division,_   
> _And celebrate the irony,_   
> _Everything is going wrong,_   
> _But we're so happy,_   
> _Let's dance to joy division,_   
> _And raise our glass to the ceiling,_   
> _'Cause this could all go so wrong,_   
> _But we're so happy,_   
> _Yeah we're so happy._   
> _-Let's Dance to Joy Division, The Wombats_ [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKXe2T5YDQQ)

Jack curled up in the branches of the tree, looking down over the town below and despite appearances was not sulking, thank you very much.

After all these years, he thought he would have some idea of why he was here, what he was supposed to _do_. 

Yeah, he had a pretty good idea of what he could do, when it came to his powers – though he refused to be satisfied, kept pushing the limits because he could – but that didn't mean he knew what he was supposed to do with them.

Most of the other winter elementals were deferring to him, now. It was strange, and he wasn't sure what to think about it – some of them were older than he was, but they still were backing off when he showed up. It was nice to not have to fight them, at least. Winter spirits, other than Jack, weren't big on talking things out, and a lot of them were vicious.

General Winter had actually paled and fled when he'd landed, drawn by the scent of magic-fueled snow.

Jack glared up at the swirling clouds above him. The General had been brewing up a storm, and it was a nasty one. Now that he'd fled, it looked like the storm was Jack's problem. No one else was going to do anything about it, that was for sure.

He'd been tempted to just let it run its course, but the General's storms tended to be nasty, bitter things, with harsh snow and killing cold. If Jack were to leave it as it was, it would just continue on the course the General had started.

Of course, it didn't matter now who had started it – Jack was here, there were no other winter spirits around, let alone any with the power to control the storm, so he was going to be blamed for it whether he did anything with it or not.

It was going to be a big one, even if he did get it under control. It was ready to dump snow that was going to be measured in feet rather than inches.

Oh well...how did that saying go?

_'If you're going to walk on thin ice – you may as well dance.'_

With a grin, Jack lifted off the branch and took to the skies. The clouds were stubborn about going where he wanted them, but he danced along their surfaces anyway, letting his powers sink into them to turn harsh, brittle, biting snow into soft, fluffy, playful snow.

This was going to be a storm to _remember_.

 

Okay, so the storm still got a bit out of hand.

Jack _might_...just might...have gotten a little frustrated with having to clean up other people's messes and never being noticed or wanted and let his dance get angry. It had only been for a minute, but that minute still translated into a lot of snow.

Lots and lots of snow.

He was going to owe Spring big.

Still, people were going to know his name now. Spirits, most likely. Humans still thought of him as nothing more than an expression. He was probably going to be blamed for this rather than praised, but better to be infamous than forgotten, right? 

This storm was going to cover most of North America's eastern half in feet of snow. It was already up to Jack's waist, and it wasn't quite over yet.

He landed in a tree, looking over the town he had found himself over when the storm finally died down enough he didn't need to give it constant attention lest it get out of hand and grow bitter again. 

Down below came a flash of gray, and Jack spun on his branch, dropping to dangle from it to see better. Who or what would be out at this time of night, in this storm he'd directed here?

If it was a Wendigo...there was going to be a problem.

Five minutes later, Jack was sure it wasn't a Wendigo – it was way, way too fast for one of them. Plus, Wendigo didn't talk, let alone complain, though it was too quiet for him to make out the words, just the tone.

...holy crap, it's the _Easter Bunny,_ Jack realized with a start as a pair of long ears swiveled toward him, their owner coming to attention.

He'd never actually gotten to see the rabbit before, since most of the time his job was over by the time Easter rolled around.

Suddenly he was spotted, the rabbit bounding over to the tree Jack was still seated in and starting to yell up at him, shaking a fist.

The accent was a surprise, that's for sure.

...it was Easter? Oh, so that was why the rabbit was out...and angry. Oops, Jack thought. The Easter Bunny wasn't in a mood to listen, that much was obvious, and no one ever listened to the explanations anyway.

The rabbit was continuing to rant, growing angrier the less attention Jack seemed to pay to him.

With a laugh, Jack went with impulse and swung down out of his tree, grabbing the rabbit's paw. The slick snow worked in his favor as he swung the rabbit into a dance, laughing with the wind as they spun and dipped.

The Easter Rabbit pulled away and Jack took to the air, still laughing as he dodged and spun just ahead of the grasping paws. It was still a dance, and even if the rabbit was still mad there was a hint of smile playing around his muzzle.

They continued their game slash dance, Jack still firing off the occasional snowball, the rabbit's cursing dying down as he jumped and ran, amusement and confusion – mostly confusion – replacing rage.

Suddenly they both froze as the sun broke over the horizon and they heard children cheering as they peeked out of their houses.

“Dude! Look at all the snow!”

“Look, eggs! The Easter Bunny still came!” a little girl's voice cried.

“I told you he could! Snow's not enough to stop the Easter Bunny!” her brother said happily, picking an egg up from the snow.

“...your fans are calling,” Jack said quietly, drooping sadly, a small part of him wondering if anyone would ever say such things about him. 

Deciding not to get too close to those strong paws, he swooped down and pressed a kiss to one overlarge ear. “Better get back to work, the storm'll be letting up now.”

With that he took to the skies, disappearing rapidly as Bunny watched him go in confusion.

It wouldn't have been the first time a spirit had tried to ruin Easter...but they certainly never stuck around afterward to try and _dance_ with him. 

Maybe the gumby wasn't trying to ruin his holiday? Shaking his head, Bunny tapped open a hole. He'd been so _sure_ , when he'd seen all that snow, that that was all it was – another jealous spirit trying to ruin another's special day. He was still angry, true, but...

There was no time to wonder about it now, he had more eggs to hand-deliver now that the snow was going to make the googies' short little legs unable to carry themselves where they were needed.

Maybe the spirit didn't mean to ruin Easter, but he sure didn't care about all the work Bunny had put into it or all the extra work he'd just made for him!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...someone said about doing something for Blizzard of '68. I wasn't going to, but changed my mind at the last minute. Hope it's enjoyed.  
> Also, I tried to name Spring, but she remains stubbornly Spring. I would say she's the amalgamation of differently-named spring spirits, so she just goes by “Spring” among spirits.


	6. With Whom to Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I'm looking for somebody with whom to dance_  
>  _With whom to dance? With whom to dance?_  
>  _I'm looking for somebody with whom to dance._  
>  _\- The Magnetic Fields, “With Whom To Dance”_ [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n1AXekCOQ4)

Jack lounged in the back of the sleigh as they rode back to the Pole, as exhausted from the physical exertions of the last few days as from emotional exhaustion. The last few days had been one wild ride, and all he wanted to do now was sleep.

There had been moments he'd been ready to break into a booty-shaking victory dance, and others he'd been so devastated he couldn't even move, let alone dance. Little wonder all he wanted to do was fall over.

If he wasn’t so exhausted, he might have tried pulling one of the others, probably Tooth since Sandy and Bunny were both exhausted (and if he was honest with himself, he really wanted to dance with Tooth), into a victory dance, but he wasn’t quite sure how that would go over with the fairy queen. After all, he’d never stuck around after a dance before, and he didn’t want the other Guardians to stop associating with him just because of a dance.

Maybe later he decided, slouching against the side of the sleigh and pulling his hood over his eyes. After he’d found out if Tooth liked that kind of thing, and didn’t think dancing was embarrassing or something. It was different to swoop on someone and dance when he could run afterward, he was rather hoping he might be able to talk to the Guardians for awhile, so he’d better wait. 

For now, he was going to see if it was possible to sleep for a month.

 

It had been a little over year now since that eventful Easter, and Jack was sitting on the rafters in the Pole watching the moving mass of spirits down below. North had opened a wing that had been closed for centuries, roughly along the same time the Guardians had begun to drift apart. Throwing parties took away time from preparing for the holiday, after all, and there was no real use for the ballroom or drawing rooms when one wasn’t giving parties.

Now, though, North felt that a year was long enough for Jack to get used to the idea of being a Guardian – it wasn’t, really, but Jack wasn’t about to tell him that – and he was ready to celebrate the newest Guardian’s choosing. He’d wanted to hold it sooner, but it was hard to pin Jack down when it came to large gatherings. 

...cut him some slack, he'd been almost totally alone for three hundred years save for chance encounters! They were all lucky he still had the social skills he had and hadn't gone raving mad years ago.

At least he’d finally gotten North to listen to him on one front – there weren’t many, but there were a few spirits out there that made Bunny’s grudge-holding skills look mild. There was a reason most winter spirits were solitary and that the name for a gathering of winter spirits was called a 'war', after all. Some spirits never got past him being of winter, and others, well...any reason would do.

At least he and the Pooka had been able to start talking over the past year, and start building a friendship on the tenuous trust they had started over that hectic weekend. 

As it was, he’d played along with his introduction as a Guardian to show willing – one he’d argued North down to from an outrageous spectacle, almost as bad as that first attempt at a swearing-in ceremony – before retreating to the rafters for a breather. He’d fly down soon, really, he just needed a few minutes. This much attention was hard to handle after all this time, but North had promised a band, and Jack had downplayed how interested he was in that. A live band, one playing for _him_ to dance to!

He actually had the impression North thought he didn’t like music or dancing. Well, he’d like to see the person who liked being surprised with a full brass band, flaming torches, and choreography out of nowhere, for goodness' sake. 

Honestly, airborne flaming torches around a winter spirit? Who thought that was a good idea?

 

Tooth flitted through the crowd, exchanging pleasantries and greetings with various spirits. It had taken months, and hadn’t been easy, and it had been tempting now and again to go back to how things had been before Jack, but she’d finally managed to work with her girls so she could take a night off now and again. 

Baby Tooth flitted above her mother’s head, looking around with unconcealed excitement. Usually she would have been left in charge in her mother’s absence, but not tonight, not on her best friend’s night.

Stopping by one of the many refreshment tables, Tooth scooped up a drink, passing a smaller one to Baby Tooth.

“Are they serious? Jack Frost?” she overheard, the voice low and female. Stiffening, she glanced around, finding the speaker – a dryad – and moving toward the group as stealthily as possible.

“I know, right?” It wasn’t the first time she’d had to defend their youngest, newest Guardian against judgmental spirits, and Tooth edged her way closer, ready to demonstrate that, pretty feathers or not, she was still a _warrior_ queen. 

So braced was she for the poison she was sure would follow her wings nearly stalled when naiad who had spoken sighed instead. “He’s so…so…the Spirit of Winter shouldn’t be that _hot_.”

The group, nearly all female spirits, sighed. “He was so passionate with me,” a Snow Maiden said in a confidential tone, “I thought I was going to _melt_.”

“Just thinking about being with him still gives me chills,” Summer admitted, blushing.

“He was such a gentleman with me, so sweet and slow. My head still spins when I think about it,” Spring added. “What about you girls?” she asked, turning to the three Muses who’d managed to attend the party. Thalia laughed as Melpomene and Erato blushed and looked down to the ground.

“Snowflakes upon the wind  
have no less grace than he  
and their touch is no less gentle  
than the kiss he gave to me,” Erato murmured. The rest of the group sighed. 

Thalia laughed again as they revived from Erato’s surprise poetry. “Terpsichore is annoyed she hasn’t had a chance at him yet,” she said confidentially. “We’re the only three to get a taste so far, and the others want a turn, but Terpsi thinks she should have been first out of us and she’s annoyed we got him before she did.”

“It felt so good to have his arms around me,” Melpomene said softly. “I would give much for the chance to feel it again.”

“Do you think any of us have a chance tonight?” the dryad who’d first spoken asked anxiously.

“It’s one of North’s parties, surely it’ll go on until dawn. We might all get a chance,” a selkie pointed out. Her sister nodded.

“He had so much energy when he was with me, I’m sure he can go all night,” she said. “Oh, I can hardly wait! He's so much stronger than he looks, it's so exciting when he has his hands on you.”

“Strong but gentle,” a shy little river spirit piped up. “He's the spirit of winter, but he didn't even frost me, he was so careful.” The others sighed, the selkie patting the river spirit's shoulder as he blushed and looked down, shuffling his feet nervously.

“Have you seen his eyes when he really gets into it?” another asked. “They’re just so…so…” they all sighed again, giggling, as Tooth continued to watch in stunned silence, glancing up at Baby Tooth, who was completely at sea. Were they…their Jack…what she thought? 

“Did he kiss your hand when it was all over?” she heard one ask as she began to back away, hearing the confirmations from the rest of the group, the sighs of “So _romantic_ ” and “How a spirit of cold and ice be so…hot-blooded?” and giggles as Tooth retreated.

She drifted over toward the wall, mind whirling and grip dangerously close to crushing her cup, nearly running into Bunny, who was staring at the group with open mouth and twitching eyelid. They exchanged looks and Bunny shook his head, storming off toward the refreshments, muttering about needing a drink. 

Slowly she drifted over to where Sandy and North were talking with Cupid, waiting until the large man excused himself to get their attention. She summarized the conversation she’d overheard, wrapping up with “…and so now Bunny’s off to drink away the memory. Had you two heard anything about this? Are they…really…?”

Sandy started eying Jack while North shrugged pensively, looking far too amused for Tooth’s taste. “Hard to tell, we have shut ourselves off for so long. It has been a long time since we have heard the latest gossip.” 

Their conversation drifted off and they watched in silence as Jack finally drifted down from the rafters, hesitantly starting to mingle. He stopped by the group Tooth had been eavesdropping on, talking animatedly with the group of steadily reddening spirits, and there was a sudden rush of excitement as he kissed Spring’s hand and she dropped like one of Tooth’s more excitable fairies.

Sandy rolled in midair with silent laughter as North’s laugh boomed across the ballroom and Tooth gaped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had entirely too much fun writing the innuendos. I never get to try those. I have got to do it again, I ran dry before I was ready to stop.  
> Terpsichore is the Muse of Dance, Melpomene is Tragedy, Thalia is Comedy, and Erato is Love Poetry. The poem she quotes is mine, one I whipped up for this fic.  
> I promised eventual Rainbow Snowcone, didn't I? And I promised slow burn. Slow, slow burn.


	7. Does Your Mother Know?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Well I can dance with you honey_  
>  _If you think it's funny_  
>  _Does your mother know that you're out?_  
>  _And I can chat with you baby_  
>  _Flirt a little maybe_  
>  _Does your mother know that you're out?_  
>  _-Does Your Mother Know?, Abba_ [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkL7Fkigfn8)

Jack settled down on a branch, flopping against the trunk with a sigh. Being seen was awesome, and now it seemed like more and more kids were seeing him every day. (He thanked Jamie and his friends every time it happened, knowing they'd told their friends about him the last time he'd pulled off a major snow day on a week where temperatures had been _predicted_ to be unseasonably warm, and one of them told their big sister who wrote about it on her blog, and...it just grew from there.)

Still, being seen all the time was tiring. He understood a little bit now why the other Guardians tried so hard not to be seen, beyond the 'Belief is stronger without proof' idea, but he couldn't stay cooped up like they did – he had to go out and about to deliver his frost and snow. 

If he had his way, Tooth was going to be leaving her palace a lot more too. Palace or not, when you never left it turned into nothing more than a extra large and sparkly cage. The other two he could understand not leaving very often – though that was going to change – but Tooth shouldn't be caged.

He glanced through the window his branch hung next to when music suddenly began to pour through it. Grinning, he laughed at himself. Of all the places to land, _of course_ he would land outside a high school's winter formal. 

Something landed lightly in his hair, and he jumped. High pitched laughter met his ears as Baby Tooth swung lightly down from his hair to hover in front of him. Laughing at himself, Jack held out a hand for Baby Tooth to land on. 

“Hey Baby Tooth,” he said happily. “How's one of my favorite females?”

Baby Tooth chittered at him and he listened carefully. He could only make out about two thirds of what she was saying, but he was getting better at it, he was sure. 

“Sounds like you're extra busy,” he commented when she was done. “Is your mama letting herself fall back into old habits?”

Baby Tooth rolled her eyes, huffing. He laughed again, stroking an extra gentle finger over her head. “Want me to stop by the palace and try dragging her out?” An emphatic nod was his answer, and he smiled. It was nice to be wanted.

“Deal. For now...need to get back to work?”

Baby Tooth shook her head, looking up at Jack curiously. She may not know what he was planning, but she was sure it'd be _fun._

Grinning mischievously, Jack lifted himself from his branch to hover in mid air as Baby Tooth did the same. With a flourish Jack bowed to her, grin still firmly in place.

“If I could have this dance, then, milady?” 

Baby Tooth giggled, curtsying back. She'd seen him in action at the party, but hadn't gotten a chance that night. Briefly she wondered if he knew about the rumors she'd heard that evening or what they'd been talking about, but tossed it aside in favor of playing with Jack.

They couldn't dance properly, but they circled each other in the air, spinning circles around the other, Jack gently taking Baby's tiny hand in his or cradling her in his cupped hands when she wasn't spinning around him, both laughing as the wind carried them higher and they danced through the air.

They flew away from town, still dipping and twirling as they headed toward the Tooth Palace. 

As they came in sight, a swarm of sparkling green rushed them and Jack laughed loud and long as he was mobbed by off-duty tooth fairies. For a few minutes more he danced with them, laughing as the group of them dipped and twirled, not bothered by little things like gravity, dancing from floor to air to spire.

Finally Jack reluctantly slowed to a stop. The fairies sighed in disappointment even as Jack hurried to apologize, promising them a longer dance later. They accepted the promise philosophically, going back to rest properly before they hurried out into the world again as Jack headed toward command central, as he referred to the center of the Tooth Palace.

Time to try and convince a workaholic fairy she needed to have a little fun and take a little break.

 

Jack stared at the ceiling and huffed out a sigh. The meeting wouldn't last too much longer before they got to the real business of just being together, but right now, it was bo-ring. 

Baby Tooth snuggled against his cheek with a chirp, and he raised a hand for her to step onto. He looked down at her and they shared a moment, both saying clearly without words how bored both were.

Really, Baby Tooth should have been at the palace, overseeing things in her mother's absence, but they'd wanted to see if the others could cover the slack if both had to leave in an emergency – which meant being bored at the meeting for Baby Tooth.

Suddenly grinning, Jack lowered Baby Tooth to the table. She looked at him curiously, matching his grin when he held his hand by her, holding out thumb and ring finger for her to grip. 

Giggling silently, he danced her around his section of the tabletop, giving her a little spin now and then. As North's droning speech wrapped up, he scooped Baby Tooth up into his hands, brushing a kiss over her head. 

 

Tooth was trying to pay attention to North, she really was, but despite being the guardian of wonder, he could make things very dull when he got too into the technical details of his job. Enthusiastic, yes, but she'd been lost for the last ten minutes. She suspected Sandy was the only one still paying attention to North by this point.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Baby Tooth and Jack grin at each other and hoped they weren't about to start mischief. Not that she'd blame them, but there were times and places.

Instead, she found herself amused and touched as Baby Tooth started dancing with Jack's hand, a sudden warmth filling her heart as Jack played with Baby Tooth, so gentle with her little girl.

She was fairly sure the other guardians still hadn't realized just how close the little fairies were to being her children. They weren't rough with them, but they weren't gentle the way Jack was.

Before they had really gotten to know Jack, she never would have thought he would be so gentle with anyone, but he really did love her fairies. It was obvious every time he came into contact with them, so gentle and caring each time he was close to her girls.

Her girls told her about it, how he would hold them or let them nap on him, in his pocket or his hair, or...there, as North wrapped up and the dance ended, he brushed a kiss over Baby Tooth's head, just as her girls had whispered he did.

She could love him for the way she treated her girls, she really could.

She had to keep reminding herself that she should think such things about him. He was still getting used to regular interaction with friends, and so was she, really.

It was that party of North's when she had started to hear the rumors that had apparently been going around the spirit world about Jack, besides the rumors of his mischief and pranks, about gentle hands and fiery passion, that made her curious - and confused. She wasn't quite sure what to think about the rumors yet.

Except...her eyes kept wandering away from his teeth to his hands, and more than once she had to push away thoughts wondering if those hands were as gentle as rumor said...and what they'd feel like on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't get the image of Jack dancing with the baby teeth out of my head. It's my thought that he feels vaguely guilty over what happened to them over Easter weekend 2012, being separated from their mother and caged up and then it took him so long to help them, that they have him wrapped around their little fingers.


	8. Do Wacka Doo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I've been playing some old records_   
> _That I found in Grandpa's trunk_   
> _Beside a wind-up gramophone_   
> _Beneath a pile of junk_   
> _And in that dusty attic_   
> _I enjoyed a music show_   
> _Listening to the melodies_   
> _Of eighty years ago_
> 
> _Doo wacka doo wacka doo wacka doo wacka doo_   
> _The band would play_   
> _Doo wacka doo wacka doo wacka doo wacka doo_   
> _They'd dance the night away_
> 
> _I long for all the magic_  
>  _And the days of cabaret_  
>  _Bring back those good old melodies of yesterday_  
>  _Bring back those good old melodies of yesterday_  
>  _\- Celtic Thunder, Do Wacka Doo_ [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv_kOb6JRaY)

Jack gave another box a tug, coughing as he dislodged another fifty year's worth of dust. He knew everyone was busy around here, but yesh, you'd think they'd clean once a decade or something!

Phil had waved him toward the room earlier, muttering something in yeti about Jack looking in there for some boxes of fabric if he was so desperate to help out. Apparently he had an idea he wanted to try that needed the sturdy and fancy fabrics they'd tossed in here when they had stopped using the real stuff on the toys they sent out – silks and satins and velvets rather than in imitation stuff parents could justify or the magic could convince them they'd bought.

Jack didn't really care about the why, just so long as he had an excuse to go poking around in one of the storerooms. 

The Northern Hemisphere's summer was boring, and there wasn't much for him to do in the Southern Hemisphere. Much better to have an excuse to go poking around in the Pole, now that he had free access to the building. He wasn't going to go into most of it without some reason, since he didn't want that access taken away, but when they said it was fine...

He was beginning to suspect that Phil didn't really want the fabric, he just wanted Jack out of the way. Oh well, his loss setting Jack loose in a storeroom. Jack grinned and moved on to the next pile.

It wasn't North's storeroom of adventuring souvenirs, but this was almost better – he didn't have to worry quite so much about damaging something in here.

He yanked open the next box, letting out a laugh and a low whistle as he dug inside. Very fancy, very fancy indeed, North, he thought, pulling out the tuxedo jacket. It was far too small for North, but too big for a child, and Jack wondered just why North had it.

It was still in good condition, thanks to North's spells on the storerooms to protect the contents. Dust, no, didn't protect against that, but at least they didn't disintegrate from being left alone.

Jack dug back in the box, pulling out the shirt and bow-tie to go with the tuxedo jacket. 

The next box yielded a hatbox, and Jack laughed as he pulled out the old top hat. He laid it on top of the tuxedo jacket, shirt, and tie, debating trying them on for the hell of it.

No, he decided, he wasn't done exploring just yet. He went through a few more boxes, finding nothing of interest in them. Pulling at a drop cloth, he stared in disbelief at the gramophone he uncovered. One of the old ones, with a crank on the side and a huge trumpet. There was a box of records tucked underneath, and Jack dove in.

Five minutes later, he had the record on and was cranking the machine to wind it up. He hadn't heard this music in decades, and he missed it.

Suddenly remembering the tux, he set down his staff, pulling off his hoodie and grinning. Might as well, right?

Five minutes later, Jack tilted the top hat to a jauntier angle and gave a twirl, enjoying how the jacket's tails flared behind him. Hey, if he was going to dance to classy music, may as well look the part right? He'd always wanted to give it a try anyway.

The music kicked on, bright and lively, and Jack laughed as he danced his way around the clear area in the middle of the room, staff taking the place of a cane as he played. 

The song came to an end and he bowed to his imaginary partners, straightening at the sound of clapping from the doors to stare incredulously.

Sandy stood there, smiling broadly.

Jack began to blush, frost spreading over his face at getting caught. Still, he summoned up a smile and gave his staff a twirl, sauntering over to Sandy.

The small dreamweaver grinned, summoning up a top hat and monocle from his sand. Jack laughed as Sandy restarted the record, giving him a bow. “Care for this dance?” he asked dryly as Sandy laughed silently.

They spun around the room, sometimes on the floor and sometimes taking to the air, Sandy's sand filling the room and twining around them as they dipped and spun, Jack's laughter filling the room alongside Sandy's streams. For a minute Jack was reminded of all the times he'd danced or played with Sandy's sand before, and he wondered if Sandy knew about those times.

When the door creaked open again, revealing a confused Phil who had been attracted by the noise, they didn't hesitate, Sandy pulling him into the room and Jack pulling him into the dance. 

Phil protested at first – he was _busy_ , Jack! - but gave in soon. Jack was one of the few who could get the stern workaholic to play, and they both knew it. 

He was surprisingly light on his feet for such a huge spirit.

The three of them Charleston-ed, tapped, and spun around the room, making up their own silly dances, breathless from laughter by the time the record spun to its end.

Jack was going to give them both the traditional hand kiss and managed Sandy's before Phil grabbed him around the waist, squeezing tight and ruffling his hair, making Jack laugh and squirm for freedom.

He set Jack back on his feet, gesturing to the top hat and tails Jack was still wearing and saying something quickly. Same as with the tooth fairies, Jack was starting to pick up enough to understand most of what Phil was saying.

“Really? It's not my usual look,” he replied to the compliment, giving a spin and tapping his staff on the floor like a cane. Phil just grunted out another laugh and some more yeti, telling Jack to keep the outfit.

He brightened – impractical as they may have been, they were still the first offhand present, let alone present, he'd gotten in as long as he could remember. “Really, Phil? Thanks!” he cried, throwing himself into Phil's arms for another hug. 

Phil grunted at the impact but wrapped his arms around Jack anyway, Sandy floating down to join the hug. Jack needed far more hugs in both their opinions. 

Sandy giggled silently and pressed himself closer to Jack's side. At least Jack had known he was dancing along this time. He still found himself far too amused at how oblivious Jack was when it came to the effect his dancing had on others.

Not that he was going to be the one to tell Jack. After all, these things had to be discovered on your own, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I admit it, this chapter was just because I 1) wanted to use that song, 2) wanted to get Jack in tails and a top hat, and 3) felt challenged to toss Phil in there.  
> Also, I am amused by Oblivious!Jack and Oblivious!Tooth, so while they both will eventually figure things out, it may take them awhile. Also, Sandy is a little shit and I love writing him as one.


	9. Dance To Your Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Dance to your shadow:_   
> _When it's hard to be living,_   
> _Dance to your shadow:_   
> _When there's nothing there to heal you,_   
> _Dance to your shadow:_   
> _When it's hard to be living,_   
> _Dance to your shadow:_   
> _When there's nothing there to heal you,_
> 
> _Dance to your shadow:_  
>  _When it's good to be living,_  
>  _Dance to your shadow:_  
>  _When there's nothing there to fear you,_  
>  _Dance to your shadow:_  
>  _When it's fine to be living,_  
>  _Dance to your shadow:_  
>  _When there's nothing there to fear you_  
>  _\- Kim Robertson, Dance to Your Shadow_ [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMwbWOW_Dog)

Baby Tooth giggled, fluttering in front of her mother, urging her to follow, as did the other fairies clustered around her, all of them giggling. Tooth giggled herself and let them tease her, even as she glanced at the sky worriedly. The sun was already rising, and they’d have to leave soon or risk being seen by the children. Still, her girls had a secret they were so very eager to share with her, and they so rarely got to play and be silly like this, and she did want to know…

Still giggling, Baby Tooth darted into thicker woods, and Tooth had to concentrate to follow, dropping her speculation as to where her daughter was taking her. If the trees and brush got much thicker, she would have to land and go on foot.

Just as she was sure she would have to land Baby Tooth stopped, pointing. These woods were just above Jack’s lake, Tooth realized suddenly, glancing over the edge of the steep hill. What could possibly…

Baby Tooth darted down the hill, stopping halfway up and pointing again, urging her mother to hurry. Tooth huffed a little before following. Really, if they were coming to Jack’s lake, why couldn’t they have come in openly?

At the halfway point of the hill was a crevice, wide enough to be a proper cave entrance, and Tooth sensed the same sort of magic on it that protected her palace, North's workshop, Sandy's island and Bunny's Warren from being seen – an unconscious magic that happened when a spirit claimed a spot for their own.

Squeaking, Baby Tooth pushed her mother to the side when Tooth kept hovering in front of the entrance, rapidly urging her mother that they couldn’t be seen.

Mollified a touch and more curious than ever, Tooth drifted cautiously toward the cave opening in the hillside. Gently and curiously she reached out toward the icicles dangling in it, noting absently that it was far too warm for icicles to be forming yet this year.

A gentle touch confirmed her suspicions – Jack’s ice, the permanent kind that never melted and that he only used rarely. These ones weren’t shaped like his usual icicles, clearer and with smooth, flat edges, swinging freely in a barely seen curtain across the cave’s face.

Could this be Jack's home? Tooth wondered, reaching toward it again cautiously before drawing back. If it was, little wonder he'd hesitated about showing it to them – he was probably comparing it to what they had and felt like he was coming up short, even when he had no reason to feel that way.

Oh, but she wanted to look inside. It took all her self control to stay outside and not dart in, but curiosity lost against basic etiquette. If this _was_ Jack's home, she had no right to burst in uninvited.

Suddenly Baby Tooth squeaked, grabbing her mother’s hand and shooting for the trees. Startled, she let Baby Tooth pull her up, following her daughter’s pointing arm to see Jack coming in for a landing. 

He hovered in front of the hill for a moment, glancing around for watchers before ducking into the cave. Cautiously, at Baby Tooth's urging, Tooth made her way back down the hill, peeking into the entrance. 

For a few minutes, Tooth wasn’t sure just what Baby Tooth wanted her to see. Jack had disappeared into the back of the cave, out of sight of the entrance, although she could still hear the faint sounds of him moving around inside. 

Then the sun finished rising and its rays came through the trees, flooding the cave with light. It sparkled through the ice and Tooth had to stifle a gasp as the inside of the cave exploded into rainbows that danced over the walls as the wind stirred the icicles into gentle, swaying motion.

Inside the cave Jack laughed and Tooth stared as he came back into view and he began to dance, flitting about the cave and playing with the rainbows. The rainbows slipped over Jack’s skin, glowing against the pale canvas, highlighting graceful arms and a laughing face. 

Slowly he undulated, feet moving to a beat only he could hear. His hips dipped and rolled as he began to move, arching his back so far his hair brushed the floor before rolling back up just as slowly. Gradually he picked up speed, moving faster and faster around the small cave, the rainbows dipping and spinning, highlighting in his hair and over his skin, sparkling and ethereal, fae and otherworldly as he danced, unhindered by gravity’s demands.

Enchanted and entranced, Tooth watched Jack dance, a personal celebration and outpouring of fun and joy, slowly and unconsciously drifting closer. Gasping at a sudden stab of heat low in her stomach, suddenly feeling as though she were intruding on something deeply personal, she shot upward before Jack could find her watching, setting off for the rest of her self-assigned route with the image of Jack dancing in rainbows imprinted in her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spying is bad, Tooth. Still...did you know some male birds will dance and use their plumage to attract a mate? I think Tooth liked Jack’s display. Even if he didn't know he was displaying for her.


	10. Waltzing's for Dreamers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _One step for aching, and two steps for breaking_  
>  _Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love_  
>  _One step for sighing and two steps for crying_  
>  _Waltzing's for dreamers and losers in love_  
>  _\- Richard Thompson, Waltzing's for Dreamers_ , [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9-lAOdQrGo)

Jack whooped as he spun through the air, spinning and dropping, letting the wind catch him, deliberately pushing the limits. Once he went up so high he started to see spots in front of his eyes. Having believers was awesome, even if it did mean his formerly mostly dead body was starting to come to life again and demand little things like air.

Deliberately he let himself go, falling towards the ground with the air screaming past him, faster and faster in utter freefall, only letting the wind grab him when he was inches from disaster. Laughing, he spun as he gained more height, skimming over the trees and frosting the last of the leaves.

Just inside his hood, clinging tightly to his hair, Baby Tooth squeaked and squealed, the closest she could come to his joyful whoops. He'd worried about the amount of time Baby Tooth was spending with him, but so long as Tooth said it was okay...she could ride in his hood as much as she wanted as far as he was concerned.

The air was turning crisp over this part of the world, autumn settling in firmly, and Jack had just finished frosting and changing the leaves in the forest, taking a few minutes to play before he moved on. 

He was about to fly to the next area demanding his attention when a sparkle of water caught his eye. Usually he’d just keep going, but he thought recognized that particular sparkle – not just the sun hitting the water, but magic meant to lure someone in.

Frowning, he shot toward the forest, the wind dropping him a few feet above the ground. He scored a tidy three point landing, mentally awarding himself ten points as he looked around cautiously.

The trees in this part of the forest were menacing, the normal bird calls muted and distorted. The leaves that had already fallen scuttled along the ground like insects, subtly disturbing, and the shadows were a little too cold, a trifle too menacing for Jack to just leave without finding out what was going on.

Now, to see just what it was he was dealing with here, and see if he could deal with it alone, or if he needed the other Guardians.

Something shuddered in his hood, and Jack nearly jumped until he remembered Baby Tooth. She glanced around the woods nervously before ducking back into his hood, burrowing down between skin and cotton.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he said reassuringly, but his voice echoed oddly in the woods, and for a moment he wasn’t sure if he was reassuring her or himself. “We’re just gonna see what it is.”

He heard Baby Tooth muttering in his hood, something about under beds, and he winced and chuckled. “Fine, you go get help if you think we need it, deal?” he offered, starting down the path. She chirped, and he got the feeling that she might just get help whether he thought they needed it or not.

The pond came into view, crystal clear and a mixture of ethereal beauty and shadowy menace, filled with plants to drag down the unsuspecting and little silver fish to strip them to the bone.

Nearly everything cried out _rusalka_ to Jack, and he wasn’t sure what to feel about that. If she was a water spirit, then there wasn’t going to be anything to her but hatred of young men – including him. If she was a ghost, created by a young woman drowning herself in despair, he might be able to reach and talk to her. It was a mixed bag just what that might accomplish, but talking things out was good, right?

It usually confused them enough that they listened, at least. Apparently winter spirits – or dark spirits – weren't known for talking their problems out.

Still…he might want to send Baby Tooth out of here. According to the others, he couldn’t be killed by something like drowning (again) but he didn’t want to give it a go anyway.

“Who are you, who lingers by the water’s edge?” a voice sang from behind him, sweetness overlaying cold darkness that a human wouldn’t hear until it was too late, a sweetness like the tingling of a water-glass that gave Jack shivers down his spine. 

Jack spun, his staff coming up defensively to point at the woman standing behind him, the two eying each other. She was deceptively small, in white garments embroidered with blue and silver, her hair hanging loose down her back and crowned with a wreath of water weeds. 

Humans wouldn't notice the fact that her hair was wet and never dried until it was too late, another hint of her true nature.

Her eyes widened and she started, hands coming up to cover her mouth. “You!” she gasped, all cold sweetness gone from her voice and manner as she stared at Jack.

Baby Tooth chirped and disappeared, flying for backup as Jack backed up a step, eyes going wide. Conversations starting with ‘you!’ never seemed to go well.

“I’m…sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,” Jack said, trying to buy time. Giggling, she near flew up to Jack, hands clasped under her chin as she looked up at him starry-eyed. 

“Oh, I’ve heard of _you,_ Jack Frost,” she said flirtatiously. “What brings you to my pond?”

“…you’re not going to try and drown me?” he asked hesitantly as she batted her eyes. He’d met rusalka before, and this one wasn’t acting like a usual seductive, drown-the-young-man spirit of water that most rusalka did. Flirting, yes, but...all the darkness had gone from her for the moment.

“Only if you try and drive me from my home,” she answered, eyes going dark as she perched on a boulder by her pond, obviously bracing for a fight. 

“You can’t go around drowning people,” he said, sighing. “Especially not kids. If you do, then we're going to have a problem.”

She frowned at that before brightening, sliding back down off her rock. “I’ll negotiate,” she offered, holding out her hand “if you’ll dance with me.”

Jack blinked in surprise and the rusalka giggled and tilted her head, looking up at him through her lashes. “Promise not to try and drown you, Jack Frost. I don’t get bragging rights for that.”

Laughing, Jack accepted her hand. He had no clue what she meant by 'bragging rights, but... “Well, how can I resist that? Do you have a preference, my lady?”

“A waltz,” she said immediately. He smiled and spun, swinging into the dance as her laughter rang out across the lake.

 

They were just finishing their dance, though Jack hadn’t gotten to kiss her hand, when the sleigh suddenly passed overhead, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy launching themselves from the moving vehicle to land or hover in the small clearing.

Grinning sheepishly, Jack moved between the rusalka, who squeaked and dove into her pond, and the other Guardians. “Hey guys,” he said, gripping his staff tightly and leaning on it to look up at them through his bangs. “Um…everything’s under control?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could it be...a multi-parter? Something of a plot? OH MY.  
> Also, rusalka are interesting - but not of my are. I tried to research them, like I do anything I use from myths I didn't grow up with, but please let me know it I get something wrong.


	11. Come to Me (Song of the Water Nymph)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Like a siren to the sailor moribund_  
>  _Her song of love will drag you ever down_  
>  _Her kiss will take you to a fabled sacred land_  
>  _Her lips will break you and lead you to the dance_  
>  _Come to me, she's calling you_  
>  _Come to me, come to me_  
>  _Come to me, I'll break your heart_  
>  _Come to me, come to me_  
>  _\- Inkubus Sukkubus, Come to Me (Song of the Water Nymph)_ , [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmLjFTMgd8Y)

Ten tense, confusing minutes later, Tooth was seething, Jack was oblivious, North and Sandy were far too amused, and Bunny looked like he was wishing for a drink. A strong one.

Meanwhile, the rusalka that was the cause of all of it kept giving Jack sidelong glances and batting her eyes flirtatiously, playing with her hair and shifting from foot to foot.

She wasn’t jealous, Tooth knew, she just had to keep an eye on that woman for Jack’s sake. Rusalka were created out of the spirits of women who had been betrayed by their lovers and had killed themselves in despair, cursed to spend their afterlives drowning young men in revenge, and Jack had, by his own admission, already died once, and by drowning at that, so he shouldn’t have to go through it again, even if he would wake back up eventually. That was the only reason she was glaring, really.

Meanwhile Jack, the oblivious traitor, was leaning on his staff, earnestly trying to convince the rusalka to leave the kids alone, negotiating for scaring the people who came too close to her lake without actually killing any, to try and prevent more tragedies like the ones that created rusalka in the first place. Apparently, he’d been negotiating with her before they got there, and Baby Tooth had jumped the gun a little on running for backup. 

Not that Tooth blamed her, Baby Tooth wasn’t used to judging danger yet.

Tooth had to admit, while she didn’t _like_ the idea of scaring anyone, it was a good idea Jack was proposing. Scare the young men or boys who were likeliest to grow up to use and discard women so they would think twice, and scare the young women and girls with the reality of being a rusalka as opposed to the myth, so they wouldn’t think drowning themselves over a man was somehow romantic. 

If any of them had tried it they would probably have already been in the lake or fighting her, but she was listening to Jack – or at least, was pretending to so she could get him close enough to drown him. Tooth didn’t trust her not to try and pull that.

The rusalka giggled again, agreeing to Jack’s proposal but demanding a kiss in exchange and holding out a hand expectantly. Jack’s cheeks frosted over and he shot Bunny a glare promising blizzards in the Warren if the Pooka gave him a hard time about this, which the rabbit missed, refusing to look as he was. 

Giving the rusalka one of his blinding smiles, Jack kissed her hand as demanded. The rusalka shot Tooth a faintly smug and victorious look before nodding at the others and sliding back into her lake. 

Still white with frost, Jack shot into the sleigh and huddled in the back, drawing his hood up over his head as the others joined him, Sandy and North laughing as Tooth seethed and Bunny groaned. The rusalka had been very against tunnels near her lake, so unless he wanted a several mile hike out of his way through snow and rocky ground, the sleigh it was.

 

“Anyone else noticing a lot more dark spirits around lately?” Jack asked suddenly from the back of the sleigh, breaking the slightly awkward silence that had fallen over it since takeoff. “I mean, that’s the fifth rusalka I’ve seen this year, and I’ve seen at least three wendigo. It’s been a good fifty years since I’ve seen a wendigo.”

Bunny frowned, ears flattening as he glanced over at their newest member. “You take care of them, Snowflake?” Jack nodded absently and Tooth fluttered over to him, reaching out to touch his face gently while Bunny eyed Jack speculatively, his opinion of Jack’s fighting skills obviously going up a few notches.

“You didn’t have to face them by yourself, Jack,” she said quietly. He shrugged and grinned sheepishly.

“Guess I kinda forget, used to doing it on my own. There wasn’t much time. I’ll try to remember next time, if there is one. I hope not. But anyway…”

“Saw some kelpie out in the open awhile back,” Bunny said contemplatively. “Couple bunyips, too. And more than a few dark fae.”

Tooth settled back to the sleigh’s seats as Sandy nodded, sand images showing the different dark spirits he’d been encountering lately. “They’ve been active all over,” she said in surprise. “My girls mentioned seeing them, I just didn’t realize how widespread it was.”

“Come from being cooped up,” North noted. “Is good that you joined us, Jack. You get us out more often, we see this before it becomes a big problem.”

“Still hard to believe they’re being this open about it,” Bunny said. “Wonder what’s got them all riled up.”

“Time to start asking questions. Everyone start keeping your ears open,” North said. Bunny rolled his eyes and Jack snickered. Bunny glanced back before smirking.

“Hey, Jackie, when’d you get so popular with the sheilas, eh?” Jack’s flush returned with a vengeance and Tooth was interested to note it went down his neck to vanish under his hoodie, and she wondered for a moment just how far down it went as he retreated into his hood. “Heard the ladies talkin’ at the party, and now that rusalka. Got something we oughta know, Snowflake?”

Up front, North boomed out a laugh. “That’s my boy!” Tooth thought she saw Jack grinning from inside the depths of his hood even as he huddled into a smaller ball of embarrassment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confession time: I'm at the end of my buffer. D: This is why I usually don't start posting things until they're done. Going to do my best to keep up with regular updates, however. 
> 
> Also, rusalka, wendigo, kelpie, and bunyips are nasty business, seriously.


	12. How Strange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I'm more than happy in my candlelight_   
>  _How strange, how strange_   
>  _That you should come to my dominion_   
>  _In the middle of the darkest night_   
>  _How strange, how strange_   
>  _That you should even try_
> 
>  
> 
> _I'm not living in an ordinary world_   
>  _'Cause I'm not your ordinary good girl_   
>  _And I don't believe in playing like I know that game_   
>  _You're not heading for an ordinary love_   
>  _'Cause I'm not the one that you should think of_   
>  _And I'm not a prize that you can claim_   
>  _How Strange, Emilie Autumn,_ [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nv6G305tKY)

Jack landed in the center of the lake, the water freezing under his feet and spreading to cover the surface of the water. He tilted his head back to smile at the moon, enjoying the feel of its cool light on his face.

He felt a little better about all those years of silence, now that he knew (thanks to Sandy) just how much effort it took for the Man in the Moon to speak to anyone on earth. According to Sandy, most of his communication was by moonbeam, and the only sure way for him to communicate was through special crystals, like the one at the North Pole. Even then, it was only for special messages, since it took so much effort and energy to do.

Add in that Manny had always been alone, and probably didn't understand loneliness, and Jack was a little more willing to forgive all those years of silence. Not completely, but holding a grudge against someone who honestly didn't understand and couldn't have done much different even if they had was a little pointless.

Jack thought he heard a rustle in the bushes at the edge of the lake, but when he looked didn't see anything. He stared at the surrounding forest for a few seconds before shrugging. Must have been a raccoon or something, he decided. 

With that thought in mind, he checked Baby Tooth, sleeping inside his hoodie pocket, and decided after a moment's debate to let her sleep. She was more than a match for a raccoon. Still...carefully he lifted her out of his pocket and laid her in the little nest she had made just inside the entrance to his den. Animals knew better than to try and go in there, and she'd be more comfortable than in his pocket.

Jack himself wasn't in the mood for sleep. He drifted back down to his lake and started skating over its surface idly, not trying for his usual speed. Just a slow, gentle, musing skim over its frozen surface, almost trancelike.

Gradually he started going faster until he was almost ice dancing around his lake, adding fancy little flourishes here and there just because he could.

Now and again he almost felt like he was being watched, but it was never for long enough for him to be sure. Shrugging, he spun to skate backwards, adding a little wiggle to it so he zigged across the ice, letting his thoughts wander over the past few days.

Starting to have fun with his skating, he braced himself and flung himself into a backflip, landing on one foot to immediately launch into a triple axle. He laughed as he landed, speeding around his lake in an ice dance that was pure joy on a stage lit by moonbeams, almost as if the moon were trying to play too.

Mindful of Baby Tooth, he didn't laugh out loud even as joy bubbled in his chest. Ice dancing wasn't easy, but it was fun, and right now it felt right. It was different from the times he'd danced on his lake before, when he was so angry or depressed and had to let it out or risk making a blizzard.

He was gaining a new family, had a new little sister, and he just knew his old family – now that he remembered them – would have approved. The questions that had plagued him over the past three centuries were being answered, he was gaining acceptance, and it all needed let out before he burst from the sheer joy of it.

It was all there in his dance, and he was so engrossed in it he didn't notice as the woods around his lake grew darker even as his dance grew more joyful.

Jack froze in the middle of a spin, skidding to a halt near the center of his lake as dark figures came out of the woods surrounding the lake. Biting his lip, he glanced up the hill to where Jamie's house sat, the windows dark. If these spirits were unfriendly, he had to get them out of here – they were way too close to the homes of his believers.

The lake was still brightly lit by moonlight, but the spirits surrounding Jack were staying to the shadows. Even as Jack was debating what to do – some of the darker spirits had been restless lately, and he had no idea who these spirits were or what they intended – the circling spirits began to giggle.

They were light, feminine giggles, but Jack didn't relax his stance or grip on his staff. Just because they might be female didn't mean they weren't dangerous.

“Tell me again _why_ we can't just play with him?” a new voice asked, giggling. “The girls and I won't hurt him, honest!”

“It sounds good to me,” a male voice answered from the circle behind Jack as he spun slowly, trying to keep as many in his sights as possible.

“But it'll be so much more fun to follow the plan,” another voice answered.

“Hey, c'mon guys,” Jack said, planting his staff on the ground and leaning against it, best innocent expression in place, “Guardian of Fun here. I bet it'd be a lot more fun if you let me in on what game we're playing.”

More giggling and the circling figures stepped into the light. Jack fought not to gape, but from the giggles he was pretty sure he'd failed. He knew he was blushing, felt the frost traveling down his face and under his hoodie.

He was surrounded by satyresses, and they were just as aggressively nonchalant about their nudity as their male counterparts. Suddenly flustered by all the feminine flesh on display, Jack focused on the three spirits who stepped into the light, who were thankfully clothed.

Two male and one female, or at least he assumed so at first glance – there were quite a few older spirits and tricksters who didn't really care too much about gender, changing dependent on their mood. Not always, but often enough, and they enjoyed the confusion it caused.

The woman giggled again and gestured to her companions. “I am Hedone, and these are Gelos and Koalemos. You might not have heard of us, but we've heard of _you_ , Jack Frost.”

“Only good things, I hope,” Jack joked, still eying the others around him though trying to keep from looking at pertinent features the satyresses had on display, trying to figure out what they wanted. “So what is it you do and what was it you wanted?”

“Oh, I'm the spirit of pleasure and delight, Gelos here is laughter, and Koalemos...”

Jack yelled in surprise and outrage as the sack went over his head, frosting it over immediately, the satyresses running in to help Koalemos hold him down.

“Koalemos is the spirit of stupid or foolish decisions,” Hedone finished. “C'mon, we're not finished yet.”

“Yeah, it's gonna be a lot funnier after we finish,” Gelos added. The satyresses grinned, hefting the bag of struggling, protesting Jack – and more than one did their best to get a grope through the thick fabric.

Baby Tooth, roused by all the noise, squeaked frantically and took off at top speed toward the Pole as the satyresses and spirits disappeared into the trees. Her sisters had encountered satyrs before, and she couldn't handle them on her own - Jack needed the Guardians, now!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify my comment about the buffer in the last a/n, I have the rest of this outlined, just not written yet. So while I don't plan on abandoning it, the note was a warning that there may be a week where an update isn't ready in time. I'm going to try and work on that buffer. Quite a few still need a song assigned to them, and I'm still open to new ideas, but there's an outline. 
> 
> Also: Hedone, spirit of pleasure, enjoyment, and delight; Gelos, spirit of laughter; Koalemos, spirit of stupidity and foolishness in Greek mythologies.


	13. Dancing Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _You're a teaser, you turn 'em on_   
> _Leave them burning and then you're gone_   
> _Looking out for another, anyone will do_   
> _You're in the mood for a dance_   
> _And when you get the chance..._
> 
> _You are the Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen_  
>  _Dancing Queen, feel the beat from the tambourine_  
>  _You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life_  
>  _See that girl, watch that scene, digging the Dancing Queen_  
>  _\- Dancing Queen, Abba_ , [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrGuyw1V8s)

Tooth's mind was, for once, _not_ on teeth the next few days. Or, at least, not the children's teeth, to her shame. No, her mind kept going back to a particular set of snow-white teeth, the smile that framed them, and filling in the rest of the picture. 

She tried to focus on the teeth, but he kept intruding into her mind, distracting her. Finally she waved to the three fairies hovering attendance on her who took over with cheerful chirps and flew up to her rooms in the central tower.

Settling into her nest, Tooth sighed. There were so many different thoughts running through her head, it was no wonder she couldn't concentrate properly. 

This never happened to her. Yes, she was usually a bit random, but to not be able to concentrate on her job, her very reason for being...

Sighing, she got herself comfortable. She focused on her breathing, making her mind empty and letting the thoughts come as they would, so she could address each in turn rather than as the confused muddle they had been the past few days.

The first thought to rise was the face of the Rusalka from a few days ago, smug as Jack kissed her hand. Another thought tried to rise at that, but she firmly shoved it back. It would get its turn.

For some reason, she wanted to claw the smug look off that Rusalka's face, which was small and unreasonable of her. So...she didn't like to admit it, but...something about the situation made her jealous. 

Fine. She took that observation and filed it away to look at closer later. If there was jealousy, there was a reason for it, and she needed to look at why before it grew out of proportion.

So...what had they been doing before the Guardians got there? Obviously the Rusalka hadn't been trying to drown Jack, but they hadn't been fighting...from the air it had almost looked like...dancing?

Tooth's eyes flew open as memories of North's party intruded. All those spirits...and what they had been saying about Jack...but she'd thought...it had sounded like...

She remembered Jack _dancing_ with each of them, and her mind replayed what they'd said when she'd eavesdropped. It sounded like...well, like sex, to be blunt, but thinking about it again with that dancing in mind...

Tooth cracked up, laughing at herself, at the universe in general. They'd been talking about _dancing_ the whole time! 

Another thought came to her, cutting off her laughter before making her laugh even harder. Jack...he had _no idea_ he was popular and that everyone was watching him in hopes of a dance! 

It was a little depressing, she decided when she finally calmed down. He'd been rejected so much, he was completely oblivious to how wanted he was now. 

Another thought occurred to her as she thought of Jack's dancing, remembering how he'd danced in the cave. She knew she was blushing at the thought of it.

All right Tooth, time to be brutally honest with yourself, she thought. You liked it. Far more than you should have for just a friend. And she'd spied on him!

...though she really wished he'd known she was there and had been dancing for her alone. Her thoughts wandered again, bringing up an image of Jack in the proper garments for such a dance, the soft blues and purples in swirling silks draped around his body, stomach and arms bare, hands and feet painted with henna, gold...no, silver jewelry would suit his coloring better, maybe mix the two, silver and gold bangles around wrists and ankles, hanging from his ears and in his hair...

Tooth gave herself a shake, dissipating the appealing image. Jack was a _friend_ , she reminded herself sternly, and he was just getting used to _having_ friends. He was still remembering how those relationships worked, and the rest of them needed practice with that too.

But still...that explained the jealousy. And a bit of the anger she'd felt, seeing that Rusalka claiming both kiss and dance when she'd had neither.

Okay, so they were teammates, and they had a closer connection than the spirits Jack had danced with, but still. The little girl she had been – and queen she had become – longed for that kind of romance, for someone who treated her as someone precious while still respecting the warrior she was. The kind of romance that involved dancing and kisses on her hand while still being willing to fight beside her in battle.

With a sigh, Tooth rose from her cushions. Unfortunately, while her thoughts were clearer now, her emotions were a mess. She had to keep reminding herself that Jack was a friend, she decided, and she wasn't going to mess up this friendship. In time, maybe they would be more, or maybe this was just a passing crush brought on by seeing his display in the cave.

She gave a little groan and covered her face with her hands. She was going to be seeing that dance in her dreams, she just knew it, especially now that she'd imagined up a proper outfit for Jack to dance for her in...

And there was that talk of dark spirits to consider...now was _not_ the time for inappropriate thoughts about teammates! Even as she began to wonder about them, reminding herself to ask her girls what they had seen while out on their rounds, several of them came streaking up to her, squeaking and pointing to the sky.

Tooth spun to see and gasped. The aurora!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so apparently I can be a little evil even in the happy, fluffy fic. I regret nothing. Also, if I could, I would so draw Jack in that harem outfit.


	14. Destination Calabria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I left my job, my boss, my car and my home_  
>  _I'm leavin' for a destination I still don't know_  
>  _Somewhere nobody must have beauties at all_  
>  _And if you like us you can follow me_  
>  _So let's go!_  
>  _Follow me and let's go_!  
>  _To the place where we belong_  
>  _And leave our troubles at home_  
>  _Come with me, we can go_  
>  _To a paradise of love and joy_  
>  _A destination unknown!_  
>  _-Destination Calabria, Alex Gaudino ft. Crystal Waters_ , [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYNVvcoog-M)

The trip inside the sack was even more unpleasant than the last time he'd been shoved in a sack and kidnapped. That one had only lasted a few seconds, thanks to the portal. The landing had been less than pleasant, but at the moment Jack would have taken another trip like that every day for a week rather than another minute of this one.

The satyresses and the spirits directing them didn't have portal at their disposal, though they did have some way to eat up the miles and travel over water, obviously, since satyresses tended to stay in Europe if they could.

They kept trying to grope him through the heavy sack, too, though the sack itself was foiling most of their efforts. Jack certainly wasn't appreciating them, giving the sack a nice layer of ice and frost in addition to giving frost-nips to wandering hands.

The satyresses squealed each time he did, but they didn't stop. All in all, it was almost a relief when the sack was dropped onto a hard surface and the ties at the top loosened. 

Jack could hear metal grinding and clanging against metal and the sound of their hooves scampering away as he fought he way out of the sack, gasping at the fresh air hungrily. That sack was stifling.

He glanced around and bit back a groan. They'd dumped his sack in a _cage_ , of all things, one of delicate looking bronze bars in twirling, curved filigree, not straight bars, like something out of Tooth's palace.

Deceptively delicate he decided a few seconds later, shaking his sore hand. Very solid bars, and an equally solid lock.

Looking out over the rest of the room, he tried to figure out where he could be. The room was lined with Grecian pillars, floored with white marble, and he had the impression of a Greek temple.

His cage was up off the floor, and if he had to guess he would say it was sitting on the altar. It was...an odd sensation, knowing he was caged on an altar like some kind of sacrifice.

The spirits and satyresses had clattered off already, leaving the room quiet as he looked around, though he could faintly hear them returning, a clatter of hooves on marble and muffled voices.

“Enough,” a feminine voice said through the chatter, clear through the heavy door. “You may play with him once I have finished with him. The how shall have to wait until then, when we see if he will cooperate or not.”

Jack fought back a sudden surge of nerves to lean back against the bars of the cage, projecting nonchalance as hard as he could. 

The door opened and a woman in ancient Greek chiton slipped through, closing the door firmly behind her. Her dark hair was piled high on her head and caught in a golden net, the light sparkling on the gold as she made her way across the floor to Jack's cage, her walk as graceful as a dance.

She looked vaguely familiar, and Jack realized she must be one of the muses, since he recognized the resemblance to Melpomene, Thalia, and Erato after a few confused seconds. 

“Hello, Jack Frost,” she said, stopping at the side of his cage to look up at him with eyes that were vaguely amused, angry, and covetous all at once.

“Hey, Terpsichore,” he replied, making a quick guess and propping his staff against his shoulder. “What's up?”

“Oh, you do recognize me?” she asked instead, crossing her arms and glaring up at him.

He shrugged. “The walk gave it away. Yanno, if all you wanted to do was talk, all you had to do was ask.”

She glared at him again before turning with a huff, gliding across the floor to a throne against the wall. Sitting in it heavily, she crossed her legs and propped her elbow on the throne arm. “Maybe I should just keep you in there,” she said, “at least you're pretty to look at.”

Jack tried to hide the surge of panic the idea gave him – he was not having an easy time being caged as it was, despite his nonchalant attitude being trapped inside the cage was already starting to wear on him, like a fist around his heart – but failed. 

“What? Why?” he cried, scrambling to his knees to grab at the curls of bars surrounding him. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down, though it wasn't working. “Terpsichore, why did you kidnap me? What do you want?”

“Spirits don't come to me for dancing anymore,” she snapped. “Every time a spirit starts talking about dancing, it's all 'Jack Frost this' or 'Jack Frost that', and how they can find you and get a dance and comparing who got to dance what!”

...okay, Jack decided, that earned some confused blinking, and he suited action to thought.

“I...have no idea what you're talking about,” he said. Terpsichore ignored him, too far in her rant to hear him.

“And then, to cap it all off, you've never even approached me! I'm the muse of dance, if you're going to try and make a reputation as a dancer than you could at least come talk to me! You even danced with my sisters before me! Unless you want to be both the spirit of winter and the spirit of dance, and I'm not giving up my role without a fight. If you want out of that cage, than you'll have to prove you've earned that reputation,” she finished, glaring at Jack angrily. 

“Whoa, whoa, hold up! I'm not the spirit of dance, that's your gig,” Jack said, pointing and waving his open hand for emphasis. “I don't have any idea what you're talking about!”

Terpsichore paused, looking Jack over thoughtfully. Her glare faltered as she met his eyes, seeing the honest confusion there. The corner of her mouth twitched.

“You...really don't, do you?” she said, and Jack shook his head vigorously even as she broke down laughing.

“Yeah, yeah, it's hilarious,” Jack rolled his eyes, settled back into his former position. “Care to let me in on the joke now?”

Terpsichore smirked, standing and sashaying back over to the cage. “Let me let you in on a few things, Jack Frost...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so appears Terpsichore, Muse of Dance! And Jack may finally get a clue, even if it's delivered with a two-by-four.


	15. Razzle Dazzle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Give 'em the old razzle dazzle_   
> _Razzle Dazzle 'em_   
> _Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it_   
> _And the reaction will be passionate_   
> _Give 'em the old hocus pocus_   
> _Bead and feather 'em_   
> _How can they see with sequins in their eyes?_
> 
> _Razzle Dazzle 'em_  
>  _and they'll never catch wise_  
>  _\- Razzle Dazzle, Chicago,_ [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-zEtAuKuUY)

“North, what happened?” Tooth demanded as she flew through the balcony window, hovering over the controls to the globe anxiously.

“I do not know,” North replied, baffled. “Little fairy that stays with Jack, she came flying in and demanded we turn on the aurora, got Phil to do it when I would not. Can you understand her?”

Tooth cupped her hands carefully, catching Baby Tooth before she could run into Tooth's chest. Baby Tooth chattered at her rapidly as Sandy and Bunny arrived, North hushing Bunny before he could start to complain so Tooth could hear her daughter better, watching in worry as she grew more agitated by the second.

“Jack's been kidnapped!” she exclaimed when Baby Tooth finished her story. “A pack of satyresses and spirits ambushed him at his lake and dragged him off in a sack!”

The exclamation point over Sandy's head perfectly mirrored the surprised set of Bunny's ears. For all he teased Jack, Tooth suspected Bunny was starting to view him as an annoying little brother, and no one messed with Bunny's family. Not after what had happened to them before.

“Satyresses – that means Europe, probably Greece,” Bunny said, obviously ready to tap out a tunnel and start searching, hardwood floors be damned.

He paused as a yeti came crashing into the room, babbling frantically.

“Muses? What do they want? Have no time for talk, we must find Jack,” North exclaimed, even as four chiton-clad figures slipped into the room after the yeti.

“ _We_ know where Jack is,” Thalia giggled. Her sisters giggled behind her, even Melpomene, as the Guardians looked at them expectantly.

“Though, he might not want found,” she continued thoughtfully, looking toward the ceiling as she speculated. “What do you think, ladies?”

“Oh, he'll probably appreciate it after he's too exhausted to even walk anymore,” Euterpe commented as Erato sighed longingly. 

“...wanting rescue now or not, he got dragged off by a bunch of satyresses,” Tooth said, deliberately ignoring the insinuation, steel in her voice. “We won't believe he wants to be there until we have spoken with him ourselves.”

“You will take us to him, yes?” North said expansively. “Come, to the sleigh!”

“Oh, we can't let you know where he is _yet_ ,” Euterpe said, linking her hands behind her back and leaning forward eagerly. “She can't possibly be finished with him yet, surely he has more stamina that _that_.”

“He's so flexible,” Erato said in her breathy, suggestive voice. “I'm sure there's many, many things she wants to do with him...and maybe to him.”

It was _dancing_ , Tooth recited to herself against the surge of fury and jealousy. No matter what it sounded like, Jack was a _dancer_ , the other spirits liked to try and get him to dance with them, and the muses were just having fun at their expense.

...right?

Apparently North, Bunny, and Sandy hadn't gotten the message yet about the dancing, and looked either confused or incensed.

“If he's got so much as a bruise on 'im...” Bunny ground out, making the muses stare at him in astonishment.

“Oh, she doesn't want him _hurt_ , he's no good to her if he's hurt,” Melpomene said quickly. “It's just, there are so many ways to go about it, and I think she wants to try as many as she can.” 

That threw Bunny off, standing with his mouth opening and closing wordlessly as Tooth fought back another surge of anger. Whether they were talking of dancing or anything else, how _dare_ they touch Jack and carry him off like some kind of pet to perform on demand?

“Who is this 'she' that has Jack?” she demanded, her fairies adding to her demand with an angry buzz of tiny wings.

The muses eyed her fairies before exchanging glances, apparently deciding that while the Queen might not attack them, the children might, and that they may be skirting the edge of their tolerance with their teasing. 

“Our sister, Terpsichore,” Thalia said reluctantly. “She's the oldest, and jealous that the four of us got to taste Jack's pleasures before she did.”

Tooth bit back a snarl and dearly, dearly wished for her sabers. 

She was startled out of it by the deep snarl beside her, jerking back to realize it was Bunny, who took a deep breath, obviously trying to control himself.

“I've heard enough,” he growled. “Where do you sheilas live? Mount Helicon? Let's go, mates.”

“But you can't!” Euterpe cried, darting forward to grab at North's sleeve. “Zeus will call it an invasion, and Terpsichore will be so angry!”

“Zeus has less influence than he believes these days,” Tooth said angrily, flying past them. “And if your sister hadn't kidnapped Jack, this wouldn't be happening. He does like talking to spirits, you know. There was no need to kidnap anyone.”

Keenly aware that last statement had come out sounding crossly like her mother, Tooth zipped off toward the sleigh, letting the others trail behind. She was going to go check on Jack, whether the Muses liked it or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a love/hate relationship with the Muses' names. They're pretty, but so hard to remember how to spell. :( 
> 
> Took awhile to decide what song when with this chapter. Hope someone likes the innuendos. Also, the mental image of Baby Tooth trying to turn on the aurora and then bullying Phil into doing it continues to amuse me


	16. Show Me How You Burlesque

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Hit it up, get it up_  
>  _Won't let you rest_  
>  _Hit it up, get it up_  
>  _This is not a test_  
>  _Hit it up, get it up_  
>  _Gotta give me your best_  
>  _So get your ass up_  
>  _Show me how you burlesque_  
>  _-Show Me How You Burlesque, Burlesque_ , [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V_6Kn9KGt8)

Jack sat in his cage deathly still as only a winter spirit could, blinking blankly at Terpsichore.

“...you're kidding,” he said finally. “Like the billy goat said to his wife, you're kidding. No. Really.”

Terpsichore choked on a laugh, leaning against the cage. “You can't be serious, Jack Frost,” she said when she recovered. “Did you really think everyone was coming across you by accident, and they just so happened to be ready to dance? Surely you've noticed everyone asking for a dance, seeking you out for one. ”

Jack thought for a second before deciding honesty was the easiest answer this time. “To be honest...no. I got too used to being shooed off or avoided to notice. I never stuck around to talk. No one ever wanted to talk to me before anyway.”

Terpsichore winced, and Jack took advantage of that. “Can you let me out of this thing now? Really not digging the cage.”

Terpsichore blinked a few times, almost as if she had forgotten he was locked in the cage, before she smirked. “Oh, but you look so pretty in there,” she teased, reaching in to stroke his cheek, biting back a laugh when he avoided her hand with an utterly deadpan expression. “Maybe I just want to keep you. I'd be the envy of most of the spirit world, especially the club. I could rent you out. It would make things much easier, if less fun.”

“Ha. Ha. Elemental, seasonal spirit here. It's not gonna be pretty if you try that.”

The door swung open and Jack shot out like a flash. He dropped to the floor, projecting nonchalance as hard as he could to cover that moment. “So, you're saying there's, what, some kind of club dedicated to tracking sightings of me?”

“And tracking who danced what and where with you, plus how many times. Spring brags that she was the first. Was she really the first spirit you danced with? There's some argument over that.” Terpsichore answered, sounding a bit more amused now that she was sure Jack wasn't trying to take her place as spirit of dance and that he had no idea about the entire club.

Jack thought for a minute before shrugging. “She was the first I danced with as far as I can remember. Always had to make an ice partner before that. Dancing with spirits is a lot more fun.” He grinned and gave his staff a twirl, wandering the temple idly.

“So why didn't you ever dance with me?” Terpsichore demanded. Jack paused, looking back at her over his shoulder.

“I...don't know, opportunity never came up I guess. Why?” 

Terpsichore scowled again. “Because _I_ am the _Muse of Dance_. I, of all spirits, am the only one worthy of judging a dancer.”

“...meaning?” Jack asked, leaning against his staff in a deceptively casual pose. She made one false move and he was so out of here.

“Meaning, Frost, that I want to see you dance,” she huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at him as if he were impossibly slow.

“Hey, I dance for fun, not because someone demands I perform for them,” Jack said, getting more than a little irritated at her demand. 

They glared at each other until Terpsichore huffed again, breaking eye contact. The temple was quiet, eerily so, as they faced off. 

Terpsichore smiled suddenly, looking back up at Jack flirtatiously through her lashes.

“What about a game?” she suggested. “I do want to dance with you, and see if you're as good as they say. If you're as good as the club says you are – I have some information you may be interested in.”

“And if I'm not? What club is this anyway, the 'Stalk Frost' club?” Jack asked, the leaning against his staff a little more relaxed than a few seconds ago, the banter less defensive.

Terpsichore giggled. “Don't be silly. It's the 'Stalk Frost and Dance With Him' club, of course. And if you're not as good as they say,” she added, hands on hips and glaring at Jack, “then you stay here until you _are_.”

“Or I could just fly away right here and now,” he countered, starting to enjoy the banter. Terpsichore might be able to hold him, but he doubted it. He was a Guardian, and the spirit of winter before that, which put him in a much more powerful class of spirit than he'd ever dreamed before. Add to that the belief he was gaining by the day and the lowering belief in the muses, and well...

“But then you'll never find out what I know,” she said, “and my satyresses would love another chance at you.”

He suppressed a shudder. He didn't want those hands on him again, thank you. And he most definitely didn't want to have to keep an eye out for them.

“Well, when you put it like _that_ ,” he said, carefully leaning his staff against the cage where he'd be able to keep an eye on it, “what did you have in mind?”

Her eyes gleamed as she took his hand. “A little number I like to call...try to keep up,” she said, sweeping off into a waltz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so Jack had some other things to think about besides the club dedicated to dancing with him. But hey, clue-by-four. Don't let it go to your head, frost boy.  
> I really didn't know what song to use for this one.


	17. Ballroom Blitz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Oh yeah, it was like lightning,_   
> _everybody was frightening_   
> _And the music was soothing,_   
> _'cause they all started grooving_   
> _Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah_
> 
> _And the man at the back said everyone attack_  
>  _And it turned into a ballroom blitz_  
>  _And the girl in the corner said boy,_  
>  _I wanna warn ya_  
>  _It'll turn into a ballroom blitz_  
>  _Ballroom blitz_  
>  _Ballroom blitz_  
>  _-Ballroom Blitz, The Sweet,_[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN9jTnxv0RU)

Jack didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to get tired. They'd started with a waltz, something Jack was very familiar with. It always seemed to surprise his partner, unless they were apparently part of that club and had been seeking a waltz, that a free spirit like Jack would like something as formal as a waltz.

Then Terpsichore had switched to a Viennese waltz, much faster and more complex than the usual waltz, sending them spinning around the room dizzyingly fast.

Jack had managed to keep up and had caught on to her game when she changed again, to a cha cha this time, and managed to surprise her by switching it over to a tango mid-step, startling a laugh out of Terpsichore when he leered outrageously at her with an exaggerated wink and raised eyebrows as he dipped her low as he dared.

Terpsichore _really_ enjoyed that, if Jack was any judge. The smile on her face certainly said she did, and was still.

Jack started to enjoy their game at that point, if only because it was so rare to find someone else who knew all these dances and could keep up when he really got into them. 

He matched her earlier surprises by switching the tango with a flamenco, the first he'd been able to do in ages. It wasn't quite as much fun without the proper outfits, but he was still having fun – even now, as he started to tire.

Even he got tired eventually, he didn't have a permanent caffeine high no matter what certain spirits suspected.

Ready to wrap Terpsichore's little challenge up, Jack spun into one of his favorites – swing. Terpsichore was laughing properly now, still keeping up easily. Jack was grinning so hard it almost hurt despite the ache in his legs, the protests of his arms when he had to pick Terpsichore up for a move.

Following a sudden urge, when they spun apart next, Jack switched dances again.

To the chicken dance.

Terpsichore was laughing to hard to match him as he goofed off, dropping to the floor and laughing until she couldn't breathe as he wiggled and flapped his way through the dance.

“What kind of dance do you call that?” she demanded when she finally could breathe again. Judging that her challenge was over, Jack dropped to the floor beside her, pretending affront.

“I'll have you know that dance is almost mandatory at weddings around my hometown,” he declared. He laughed again when she looked at him disbelievingly. “Not even kidding. But it's fun, and that's what counts, right? So, did I pass?”

Terpsichore tapped her chin, pretending to debate the question. “Well, you _did_ manage to keep up with me, but I'm not sure...”

“Aw, come _on_ ,” Jack mock whined, falling back to sprawl on the floor. 

Terpsichore snickered at his antics, shifting to pull her legs under her. She tucked a loose curl behind her ear, sobering. “I suppose I'll have to say you passed my challenge,” she said. “But don't think I won't check up on you now and again. Even I desire a partner who knows what he's doing every so often.”

Jack huffed out a laugh. “You're so on,” he agreed, not moving from his sprawl on the floor. “Could be fun.”

The temple was silent for a bit after that as both spirits caught their breath, finally broken when Jack stretched.

Terpsichore eyed his lean form as he arched, and he chuckled as he sat up with a little embarrassment. He'd just learned about the fan club, he wasn't used to the attention yet. He just started getting used to being _seen_ , being oogled was something else altogether.

“Soooo...” he said to cover that moment, “you promised information if I passed? Gonna tell me about this fan club?”

“Are you sure you want to know?” she replied, grinning. “I'll probably get in trouble, since now you'll know why everyone's looking for you. Finding you and getting a dance is half the fun when you don't know it's coming.”

“Aw, come _on_ ,” Jack groaned again, laughing. She laughed at him again before standing, walking over to her throne to sit down properly.

“The information I was offering wasn't about the club, anyway,” she said once she was seated. “Though if some of your friends want information about it...like, say, Queen Toothiana...them I'll tell,” she added with a wink. “But there's some rumors I think the Guardians should hear, but no one's gotten their attention or been brave enough to try. Your friends can be very single minded and intimidating at times.”

Jack snorted, propping himself up on his elbows to look over at her. “Okay, grant you that. I'm listening.”

Terpsichore smiled again, leaning forward, bracing her hands on her knees. “Well, to start with...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Burgess looks like it's roughly in southwestern Pennsylvania. Author is from southwestern PA. Trust me when I say, almost every wedding I've been to has had the Chicken Dance done at least once. It's almost The Dance of My People.


	18. Dela (I Know Why the Dog Howls At the Moon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _One day I looked up and there you were_   
> _Like a simple question looking for an answer_   
> _Now I am a whale listening to some inner call_   
> _Swimming blindly to throw myself upon your shores_   
> _But what if I don't find you when I have landed_   
> _Would you leave me here to die on your shores stranded?_   
> _I think I know why the dog howls at the moon._   
> _I think I know why the dog howls at the moon._
> 
> _I say:_   
> _"Dela! Dela! Ngiyadela!_   
> _(Content, content I am content)_   
> _When I am with you!_   
> _Dela! Sondela Mama Sondela!_   
> _(Closer, closer, come closer mama)_   
> _I burn for you!_
> 
> _I've been waiting for you all my life -- hoping for a miracle_   
> _I've been waiting day and night -- day and night_   
> _I've been waiting for you all my life -- waiting for redemption_   
> _I've been waiting day and night -- I burn for you_   
> _\- Dela (I Know Why the Dog Howls at the Moon), Johnny Clegg,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAY3-Wf1i_Y)_

Jack waved as he left the temple, flying slowly and letting the wind do most of the work as he thought over what Terpsichore had told him. It was mostly rumor and conjecture, yeah, but it was still something to think over.

Behind him, he could faintly hear the satyresses complaining about not getting to 'play' with him, but he wasn't turning around. Not a chance. He didn't want to play their type of games.

He should probably tell the other Guardians about what he'd heard, he thought, and the idea brought a smile to his face. He had spirits telling him things that they thought were important and needed taking care of, and he had spirits to tell those same things to, to discuss them with and argue with, to take care of them if they needed to.

Snorting, he curled in the air, giggles escaping until he gave in and whooped with laughter, spinning and looping in freefall. He had a _fan club_ , and not one made up of the Baby Teeth, who were more interested in his teeth then him!

Him, Jack Frost, the spirit no one ever saw, the one most spirits avoided, that no one wanted, had a _Fan Club_.

A little voice tried to ask why, if they were his fan club, they never tried to talk to him or be friends with him, and was reminded of all he'd flown away before they _could_ , to afraid of rejection to stay. He'd have to stick around after the next dance and see.

Faintly he heard his name and he dropped a few feet as he tried to stop, hair flying as he looked about. He heard sleigh bells and looked up, jaw dropping.

Tooth was flying down to him, the sun behind her lighting up her wings like stained glass, glowing off her feathers as she rushed down to him. He had time for a quiet, hushed, “ _Wow..._ ” before she caught up to him, catching him around the waist and sending them spinning.

As abruptly as she'd grabbed him Tooth was pulling back, holding him at arm's length and looking him up and down, poking at him frantically.

“Are you all right? She didn't hurt you, did she?” she demanded, firing off questions even as they floated upward, landing gently in the sleigh. Jack laughed as Tooth kept checking him over, her frantic hands tickling as she ran her hands over his hair and chest.

She pulled back with a little squeak as she realized just how handsy she'd gotten, settling on the sleigh next to Jack.

He grinned at her, touched that they were all apparently rushing to his rescue, and gave her a quick hug. He had to keep it quick, or he would have been tempted to keep hugging her, just to feel that slim body in his arms and to memorize the texture of those incredible feathers. “I'm fine, she just wanted to talk. And, well, a dance too, but mostly talking. Can we head back to the Pole? I think I should tell you what she told me.”

North glanced back over his shoulder, giving a nod and ignoring Bunny's grumbling over getting in the sleigh and not needing it. Jack grinned and reached across Tooth to give Bunny's ear a flick.

“You _do_ care,” he teased, laughing as Bunny spluttered.

 

Between them, Tooth watched Jack as he teased Bunny. He was almost glowing, a little flushed and pinker than usual, and she wondered if it was from dancing. It was a good look for him. 

And he had been dancing, she was sure. She kept watching as they bantered, wishing she could just keep watching for much longer. The hug...well, she didn't regret grabbing him out of the air like that, and the return hug had lit a little glow in her chest. The Pole was already coming up in the horizon, though, so she tore her eyes away regretfully. Time to focus on just what Terpsichore had, well, hijacked Jack for.

She'd have to get even with Terpsichore for that, she noted absently. Kidnapping Jack was not alright, even if it was benign. There would be consequences.

The rest she set aside until after they were back in the small room North had set aside for Guardian meetings, each in the special armchair North had made to suit each of them.

“So what did Terpsichore want?” Bunny demanded as soon as they were all seated, obviously still on edge from the other Muses insinuations even if he'd hidden it in the sleigh.

Jack settled in his chair, a large blue and white affair with deep cushions, as if North was trying to make up for years of having to perch on the staff or tree branches. He slung his legs over the arm, staff leaning up against the side.

“Okay, so first...did you know there's a club for stalking me? And comparing who danced what? It's weird.”

The other Guardians stared at him blankly, gaping, before Sandy began silently laughing. 

“Dancing...? They were talking about dancing?” Bunny said incredulously as North started laughing. 

“Did you know about the club?” Tooth asked, biting back her own mixed reactions of laughter and jealousy. She'd never heard about this club before, but really she could only blame herself for that she supposed when the jealousy died down. Four hundred forty years never leaving her palace was a good reason to not hear things...

Jack frosted over, his version of a blush, and shook his head, dipping it to hide under his bangs. “Not a word. She wouldn't tell me anything about it but that either. So not fair. She said she'd tell _you_ about it, if you asked.”

Tooth made a note of that, settling a bit into her chair. North had really outdone himself on it – it was the only armchair she'd ever been able to sit in comfortably. 

Jack tried to ignore the play of firelight over her feathers so he could listen to her question, a difficult task at the moment. “And...all of this...was for a dance?” 

“She was upset that I've apparently got a reputation as a dancer but I'd never danced with her. So she wanted to challenge me to a dance. And she wanted me to pass on some stuff to you guys if I passed her test.”

“Well since yer here, I guess you passed,” Bunny said dryly. “So what'd Terpsichore think we needed to know?”

“The dark spirits are getting restless,” Jack started, holding up a hand for Bunny to wait before he could interrupt. “The unseelie court, in particular, not the other dark spirits. They aren't being controlled the way they usually are, as far as the club can tell. They really don't know more than that, but apparently they're scared, so they told Terpsichore to tell me to tell the four of you.”

Bunny swore, quietly and creatively. “Let me take a look inta this, mates,” he said when he finished, the others watching him with varying amounts of shock and admiration. “I've heard about them before, before most a your times. I got some ideas what to look into.”

“Bad news?” Tooth asked quietly, general amusement dying as Bunny nodded.

“Very bad news, Toothie,” he agreed. “Very, very bad news.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So – my buffer is 100% done. I tried to pad it out over the last week – hence the not updating – and then I got sick. Sick enough that I couldn't focus enough to write. So, sorry for the lack of update last week, I'm going to try and work on that buffer. As it is, the next chapter's not finished yet, so I'll see what I can do.   
> But hey, look – continuing plot! And Tooth and Jack being all attracted without realizing it!


	19. I Won't Say (I'm In Love)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _You keep on denying_   
> _Who you are and how you're feeling_   
> _Baby, we're not buying_   
> _Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling_   
> _Face it like a grown-up_   
> _When ya gonna own up_   
> _That ya got, got, got it bad_
> 
> _Whoa: No chance, no way_   
> _I won't say it, no, no_
> 
> _Give up, give in_   
> _Check the grin you're in love_
> 
> _This scene won't play,_   
> _I won't say I'm in love_
> 
> _I Won't Say (I'm In Love), Hercules_ , [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o9Kra8o1G8)

Jack flipped through the CDs in front of him, making a face at the selection. Usually his believers had better taste than this, he swore. Though they were still fairly dependent on their parents for things...didn't excuse some of this music or the lack of the classics, though.

It was still amazing to him that he had believers at all, even as the numbers grew steadily. Turned out, the Guardians shared belief between them, so each of his believers was technically one more to the whole – but they were children that saw _him_ , believed in _him._ He may not have had the numbers the others had, but it was growing every day, and he had a feeling he had the children behind him to thank.

Still...he glanced back over his shoulder to where the Burgess Seven were sitting, talking among themselves. No matter how many could see him, these kids would always be special to him, especially Jamie and his little sister. They'd been the first to see him, so how could they not?

Really, he shouldn't visit as often as he did, but he couldn't resist that either, especially as the group continued to stubbornly believe in him as they aged. Jamie was twelve, as of today, the age they usually started to lose the kids, but an invitation to the party had been thumb tacked to a tree by Jack's lake anyway.

No matter how much Jack was supposed to stay away, there was no way he was turning down a personal invitation.

Grinning so wide it threatened to split his face, Jack went back to flipping through the CDs. Jamie's mom was bringing the cake soon, and Jack didn't want to admit it, but he was looking forward to that.

He'd thought the kids were going to faint when he'd admitted he'd never had either cake or ice cream before. For Jamie, it seemed that sharing his favorite birthday treat had suddenly turned into the best part of the whole day, and he was nearly vibrating with excitement.

The CDs were abandoned as Jamie's mom came in with the promised cake, Jack retreating to the top of the entertainment center to keep from being walked through. He joined in the singing with a will, glowing brighter than the candles at being included.

Jamie's mom had been about to protest wasting Jamie's cake for Sophie's 'imaginary friend', but since Jamie silently asked her to play along she cut a piece for Jack and scooped out some ice cream for him, rolling her eyes tolerantly. 

Jack was diplomatic enough about it to wait until she left the room before he pounced.

“Hey Jack,” Jamie asked as they all munched, “you sure Tooth is okay with you eating all that sugar?”

Jack glanced up, cheeks bulging with ice cream. He swallowed, licking lips tinted blue from frosting with an equally tinged tongue. “...wha?” was his intelligent response, and the kids giggled.

“You know, Tooth? The Tooth Fairy? She's totally gonna know you had cake.”

“...no she won't,” Jack said, scooping up another bite. “I'll brush before she sees me, she made sure I got a toothbrush. Why?”

“'Cuz Tooth likes you,” Cupcake stated matter-of-factly. Jack froze, fork halfway to his mouth, as his brain shut down. “Like, like-likes you.”

“I...what?” Jack managed, wishing he dared thump the side of his head and get his brain rebooted. Tooth had a crush on his _teeth_ , not him, and he said as much.

Solemn as a judge, Jamie peered at Jack over his cake to say, “Nope, Sophie asked her when she lost her last tooth. Left her a note in case she couldn't stay up. And she refused the say if she did or didn't, which means she does.” He tilted his head, looking at the frost slowly coating Jack's cheeks. “Jack, are you blushing?”

Unable to hold back anymore, Sophie giggled, clapping her hands and chanting. “Tooth and Jackie, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

To his mortification, Jack could feel the frost starting to travel down his neck. He wasn't that obvious, was he? 

...wait a minute, he wasn't even sure he had anything more than a crush on Tooth, and he was letting a bunch of twelve year olds (and one eight year old) embarrass him over it?

“Okay, moving on. These CDs are weird. It's time you kids got introduced to the classics.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter did not want written and is probably not as good as it could be. Sorry about that. But I couldn't resist someone (esp. the kids) noticing how Jack and Tooth feel before they do.
> 
> (How do you write kids argh.)


	20. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Clock strikes upon the hour_   
>  _And the sun begins to fade_   
>  _Still enough time to figure out_   
>  _How to chase my blues away_   
>  _I've done alright up 'til now_   
>  _It's the light of day that shows me how_   
>  _And when the night falls loneliness calls_
> 
>  
> 
> _Oh! Wanna dance with somebody_  
>  _I wanna feel the heat with somebody_  
>  _Yeah! Wanna dance with somebody_  
>  _With somebody who loves me_
> 
>  
> 
>  _I've been in love and lost my senses_  
>  _Spinning through the town_  
>  _Soon or later the fever ends_  
>  _And I wind up feeling down_  
>  _I need a man who'll take a chance_  
>  _On a love that burns hot enough to last_  
>  _So when the night falls_  
>  _My lonely heart calls_  
>  _-I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Whitney Houston_ , [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caTGU4jS5LM)

Jack swung out of Burgess, landing in a tree by his lake. Glancing around for watchers, he slipped though the crystal hung entrance to his den, floating down the connecting tunnel to the large room carved under his lake. He hung his staff on the hook he'd carved for it, passing by the few pieces of furniture he'd created over the years to flop over into his nest.

It was made of blankets he'd both made and scavenged over the years, pillows and soft bits all collected into a giant nest rather than a bed proper – but it was big and soft and, most important of all, _comfy_. 

He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling moodily. Bunny didn't have anything yet about those dark spirits Terpsichore had told them about, and he still refused to give them information so they could help.

Apparently, the ones he was looking for were too impatient for Sandy, too reserved for North, too hasty for Tooth and too dangerous overall for Jack. At least, they were fairly sure they were. Being added to the Guardian's belief pool was increasing Jack's powers, but it was unpredictable.

It rankled, but they couldn't do much about it. 

Thinking about it brought the last time he'd seen the other to mind, brought _Tooth_ to mind, and his traitorous mind began tossing images at him – Tooth with her feathers gilded by the fire in the meeting room, glowing with the sun behind her as he darted toward him, laughing as they gathered teeth together...

With a groan, Jack threw his arm over his eyes as though that would block out the images. It had been happening more and more lately, thoughts of Tooth intruding at random times. Finding something he wanted to show her, wishing she could be flying with him when he was playing on the wind, wanting to spin her into a dance...

He'd had crushes before, though each time it had been with a human or spirit that he could avoid or he knew he'd never have a chance with. It was easy to get over a crush when the other person didn't want anything to do with you or literally had no idea you existed.

With Tooth, though...Jack had a feeling this crush, mixed with their friendship, was heading quickly toward something more serious. Little wonder, Tooth was smart, funny, fast enough to keep up with him, absolutely gorgeous – and absolutely out of his league.

She was a _Queen_ , one of the Big Four (yes, technically it was a Big Five now, but still), she was respected, important, one of the world's major spirits and he was...Jack Frost. Jack Frost, the trickster, the troublemaker, rulebreaker and free spirit. 

Add in, she had a job, one that was so incredibly important and never stopped. The children never stopped losing teeth, and it was always nighttime somewhere. It was important for everyone that she collected the teeth. Yeah, Jack's job was important – after he'd appeared, the killing winter spirits had had to step back, stop nearly all of their schemes without him even knowing it, so he was in a way controlling winter and making it fun, he shepherded in winter, made autumn happen and kept the seasons going, but no one knew what he was doing. Some would be happy if he quit doing his job, despite how many problems that would cause.

Why should someone like Tooth be interested in someone like him?

Apparently he wasn't doing as good of a job at keeping his feelings a secret as he'd thought, if even the _kids_ were picking up on it. Though considering the source, it might have just been wishful thinking on their parts...

Okay, so it wasn't. Jack was well on his way to falling in love with Tooth, and he really hoped she would catch up soon. In the meantime...he'd have to keep it close, or risk ruining this friendship.

 

Armed with her sabers, Tooth spun through a deadly dance in one of the upper floors of her Punjam Hy Loo. 

She was so frustrated, practice was the only way to let it out at the moment. The girls could handle things in the main operation for longer and longer, so she was free to take as long as she needed.

Her former crush was getting out of hand. Before, it had been for the image of Jack, perfect teeth and the dashing rebel, an image to swoon over but never take seriously. Now, though...

She'd seen him in battle, and he was much stronger than they'd ever imagined. He'd fought beside her, not trying to protect her, respecting her skills as a fighter. She'd watched him with the children, with _her_ children, and he was so gentle and patient with them. He laughed, and teased, was vulnerable and opening up to her...and she was falling for _him_ , not the image of Jack but the real Jack.

Another vicious slash was the result of that thought. He still needed _friends_ , was still getting used to being seen and heard and touched (and she wanted to touch, to find out if his hair was as snow-soft as it looked, wrap herself around him to get that cool, soft skin against her, so much cooler and comfortable than anything she was used to), and here she was ready to throw something as complicated as romance at him.

He might not even be attracted to someone like her, she had to admit, even if it hurt to make the admission. She was...well...she looked down at the hand holding her saber, the brilliantly colored emerald feathers covering her arm. She may have looked human once, but that had been an illusion. She was, and would always be, the last Sister of Flight. 

Her feathers had made others look at her as almost more animal than human, before, even if they'd paid for that assumption. Certainly those who looked at her as a potential partner were few, and generally then it was for the novelty of it rather than for her – for the bedding of a Queen, or of a feathered lover so they could say they'd done it.

She heaved a sigh, lowering her sabers. Meditation and fighting weren't helping her to focus her thoughts the way she had always depended on them to. She'd hoped to banish these random thoughts of Jack...the sudden wish to cuddle him, to sit next to him when they were together, a wish to just go flying with him for no reason other than the sky was there, or a dozen other little thoughts and wishes and desires that intruded into her day.

...she just wished they were all so innocent, but after that dance...oh she wanted him to dance for her and know what it meant to a Sister of Flight that a potential mate would dance like that for her eyes alone, and then her thoughts would take a not-so-innocent turn from there. 

She had to banish those thoughts, or she'd never be able to look Jack in the eye during there next meeting. Because when she didn't...she found herself looking over and wondering just how far down that frost blush of his went, how much experience he had, and a million other naughty little thoughts. 

Thank goodness she was too old for North's lists or she would be rivaling Jack for his spot on them right now.

Then again...maybe Jack wouldn't mind her feathers, Tooth thought. Maybe...well, anything that was important was worth trying for and taking slow. Jack was worth it.

So she'd start slow, test the waters, see if he might be able to see her as a partner, or if he couldn't see her as anything other than 'one of the guys'. Test the waters, as it were. 

She wanted a partner, and it was tempting, so very tempting, to see if Jack might be that partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, in the movie, there was a cut scene explaining how the Guardians actually pool the belief of children. So Jack would have been included in that once he took the oath.  
> Also – the two of them are finally getting a clue! For their own feelings at least. Little rambly perhaps, but I don't often write happy romance.


	21. Shake It Bake It Booty Quake It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I see you bumpin' up and down_   
>  _Wakin' up my city street_   
>  _Boys be droppin' to the ground_   
>  _Worship you at your feet._   
>  _They be callin, Let it loose_   
>  _Come on baby, Rock the caboose_   
>  _Rugged cotton stretched to the seams_   
>  _Come on baby, show me them jeans_
> 
> _Shake it! Bake it! Booty Quake it!_   
>  _Roll it around! (Don't fake it)_   
>  _Shake it! Bake it! Booty Quake it!_   
>  _Roll it around! (Don't fake it)_   
>  _Shake it! Bake it! Booty Quake it!_   
>  _Roll it around! Alright!_   
>  _Shake it! Bake it! Booty Quake it! Roll it around!_
> 
>  
> 
> _-Shake It Bake It Booty Quake It - Sym-Bionic Titan,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U008nGT0eww)_

In a previous life, Tooth must have done something _horrible_.

It was the only explanation for this torture.

She hovered a few feet away from Jack, knowing she should say something, let him know she was here and yet finding her mouth sealed as effectively as if she had been gagged.

Despite knowing he was blameless, she silently cursed North and his inclination to have another party, smaller this time than the party celebrating Jack's initiation into the Guardians. Mainly he had invited spirits they had once been friends with, who they had begun to ignore though their devotion to their duties.

Sometimes, with enough care and apologies, friendships severed through neglect could be renewed.

Add in, North was hoping they would befriend Jack as the Guardians had. It wasn't right that Jack felt he had so few friends. A fan club didn't count when you needed a friend and didn't even know it existed.

Which led to her current predicament. Jack was taking care of the music, on a small sound system the ever efficient (and much put upon) Phil had dug up for them, to give him a chance to hide and recharge without retreating to the rafters.

She'd just wanted to ask a question, but had stopped short when she'd gotten a good view of Jack.

He was bent over the box of CDs Phil had dredged up from somewhere, and he was swaying in place, dancing to the music over the speakers even as he flipped through the box, those indecently tight pants of his pulled even tighter over his rump as he shimmied in time to the music.

Every bit of manners and etiquette she'd had drummed into her head over the years, every instinct that said she needed to look away, were drowned out by her sheer inability to tear her eyes away as he continued to dance to the music, oblivious to the world around him.

A little voice in her head that she couldn't silence marveled over his backside, and despite the knowledge that she really should, she couldn't disagree with it – Jack did have an amazing butt. It was small, pert, and tight, and she wanted to do something simply awful to it.

Jack stood up and with a flustered squeak Tooth darted away and up to the rafters, original question forgotten. Breathing heavily, she resisted the urge to bang her head on the post behind her. 

Several of her fairies flew up to hover around their mother. Most of them chirped sympathetically, but a few giggled naughtily, nudging each other or sighing with stars in their eyes.

Tooth didn't pay much attention other than to make sure none of them fainted. It was a long way to the floor from up here, and she was too busy trying to get the image of kissing Jack senseless while filling her hands with that perfect backside and giving it a good, hard squeeze to be quick enough to catch.

If she hadn't been sure she was attracted to Jack before this, she certainly was now. Good grief, he was seducing and courting her with proper dance displays without even knowing what he was doing – or what kind of effect he was having on her!

...granted, he didn't know she'd been watching him, but still. It was tempting to start teasing back!

Then again, that might not be such a bad idea. Tooth peeked down at the group below, watching Jack talking to Cupid, looking smaller than usual next to the huge spirit. She wanted to court Jack, but he might not be interested in someone covered in feathers. If he reacted to her teasing...well, it would either be because he was so unused to being noticed or because he was interested.

Either way...payback. And clearing the way to a possible, actual courtship, where he actually knew what he was doing to her – and she'd be able to give as good as she got.

From down below, Cupid spotted her and waved for her to come down and join them. With a quick huff, feathers fluffing and settling back into place to cover her earlier thoughts, she fluttered down to join the others, already debating when and how to give it a go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to apologize for not posting last week. My grandma went to the hospital over the weekend and it rather threw everything for a loop. We're still not sure how things are going to go. No details, just that it'd be bad if she were my age, so at hers...
> 
> As for actual chapter notes – can you blame Tooth? Jack's pants do show off that backside of his. And she is very interested in the whole package.
> 
> P.S. Naughty thoughts like the ones Tooth is having in this chapter is roughly as far as this particular fic is like to go. Keeping this one fluffy, for the most part. So yeah, this is as naughty as it's gonna get, folks.


	22. Shall We Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Shall we dance?_   
> _On a bright cloud of music shall we fly?_   
> _Shall we dance?_   
> _Shall we then say "Goodnight” and mean "Goodbye"?_   
> _Or perchance,_   
> _When the last little star has left the sky,_   
> _Shall we still be together_   
> _With our arms around each other_   
> _And shall you be my new romance?_   
> _On the clear understanding_   
> _That this kind of thing can happen,_   
> _Shall we dance?_   
> _Shall we dance?_   
> _Shall we Dance?_   
> _-Shall We Dance, The King and I,_ [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdfAM4L6ceg)

Cupid waved Jack off and smiled widely as Tooth fluttered down to join him, hovering so she could look him in the eye. 

He was one of the few spirits strong enough to gain power from human's belief in him while managing to maintain he preferred form. If he hadn't, he would have been stuck as a tiny, chubby baby with wings, which could have been hilarious but, knowing Cupid, probably would have ended disturbingly.

His only concession to the popular image of him was to go bare save for a white cloth wrapped around his waist and bandolier holding his preferred weapon of the moment, along with the tiny wings that looked as though they should never be able to bear a fraction of his weight.

Silent for the moment, they watched Jack join a group of seasonal spirits, unnamed but for the ones they chose themselves, flighty and sometimes unpredictable. They, at least, didn't scorn Jack's company before he became a Guardian – but they were also too busy to talk and too unpredictable to approach most of the time.

“So, you've finally made a move to snatch up that boy,” Cupid commented, and Tooth's wings nearly stalled before he continued. “He needs it, and better you four than some of the dark spirits we're seeing around. A few more years alone and even someone as good–hearted as Jackie-boy might be tempted.”

Tooth nearly indulged in a relieved sigh. If anyone would be able to figure out what she was feeling toward Jack, it was Cupid. Her wings fluttered faster as his words penetrated, bringing her closer.

“What do you mean, dark spirits?” she asked, her entourage of fairies stilling and clustering closer to hear.

Cupid smirked, holding out a hand for a few of the fairies to land on and rest their wings. “Bunnymund may know the meaning of the word 'subtlety', but he seems to have forgotten how it works, especially around 'safe' spirits. Everyone in this room knows he's looking for something. A little looking around and you peel back the covers to see all these dark fae suddenly running around, almost as bad as the Dark Ages.”

“Do you have any idea what they're up to?” she asked, not surprised when he shook his head. 

“Whatever they're doing, if there's some master plan behind it all they're keeping it close,” he said apologetically. “Mostly they're just acting like they're testing the bonds keeping them from doing whatever they want. They feel like proper fae, though. Gentry, Good Folk, whole nine yards. The fertility symbol should check that,” he added with a wink. Tooth bit back a giggle. Cupid's casual attitude toward sexuality tended to irritate Bunny, and Cupid liked to exaggerate it for that reason alone.

“I'll bring it up with him,” Tooth promised. Cupid hummed, glancing across the room again, a mischievous smile crossing his face.

Tooth eyed him, inching away as her fairies chittered among themselves. Before she could get far there was a large arm over her shoulders, carefully not fouling her wings.

“So, I hear you've heard about our little club,” he said confidentially. Tooth fought back a sudden and irrational blush, disguising it with a little cough. 

“I had no idea you were a member,” she said instead as Cupid laughed.

“A polka, can't remember the year offhand,” he said cheerfully. “Of course, I ambushed him rather than the other way around. I think I got extra points for that later, I'm not sure. The question at hand is...” he moved his arm to hold her shoulders, looking meaningfully into her eyes, “why haven't you made a move yet?”

Tooth thought several of her fairies might faint. She refused to let herself blush, feigning ignorance. “I didn't leave my palace for over four hundred years, and the girls only started taking over operations a few months ago. I didn't have time for dancing.”

Cupid groaned, throwing his hands into the air in exaggerated exasperation. “Your mother just doesn't get it at all, does she?” he demanded of the Baby Teeth, some of whom were giggling while a few looked as confused as Tooth was pretending to be. “It's couples like you that make my job so difficult. Then again, what's life without a little challenge.” 

Tooth crossed her arms, flitting a little away from Cupid, unsure if she should be angry or amused. “I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about,” she said, affecting her best 'offended Queen' stance. “We were talking about _dancing_.”

“There's dancing and then there's _dancing_ ,” Cupid fired back, obviously enjoying himself. “And the second takes far more time and effort, but it's my specialty, and much more rewarding in the long run. So...when are you going to ask Jackie-boy to dance?”

Suddenly flustered, Tooth flailed, barely able to keep herself from flailing so much Jack would look over at them. “Jack...I...He...” Abruptly she slumped, only just hovering. “It's just a crush. I'll get over it.”

“And how many times do I hear that?” Cupid said, almost muttering to himself. “Toothie, I know the difference between crush and love, who better?” He slung his arm back over Tooth's shoulder, gesturing toward the oblivious Jack. “Love, she is fragile, unless grown and tended into something well fed and strong. A good, strong love won't care that you're feathered or he is coated in frost, but if you let those little worries stop you from trying you'll never know. Now get out there and dance,” he said with a smirk, suddenly giving Tooth a shove.

Cupid was stronger than most would expect, and Tooth was caught off guard, shooting across the room and into Jack's side. 

They tumbled, Jack stumbling and catching them with a brilliant grin, making Tooth almost forget to give Cupid a glare. Almost.

Cupid, the traitor, just grinned brightly and Phil, the accomplice, had to be in on it as the music switched into a waltz.

...well, screw it. She wanted to tease Jack, may as well take Cupid's advice.

She grabbed Jack's hand, yanking him close and swirling into a dance. He laughed, joining in with a will and beaming as he swung them around the room, both light enough on their feet that their connection to the floor was tenuous at best, leaving the floor completely more than once.

He spun her out in a twirl, and as she came back in Tooth made her move. Jack thought they were dancing as friends, but as she spun back in Tooth stepped closer, wrapping her arm around his waist and pressing against his chest. 

She felt him gulp, breath stuttering, and hid her smile, rubbing her cheek against his hoodie clad chest to feel the frost crisp against her cheek, the muscles of his chest firmer than they looked under the concealing hoodie.

His hand hesitated, and she felt it twitch before it settled against the small of her back, reassuringly cool and strong, and she returned the gesture to feel his breath stutter again.

Maybe she had more of a chance at this then she'd thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so Tooth makes the first move!  
> I'm kind of starting to like Cupid.   
> I also apparently have too many projects going at once, and it makes all of them go slowly. It's quite frustrating.


	23. Happy Feet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Happy feet!_   
> _I've got those happy feet!_   
> _Give them a lowdown beat_   
> _And they begin dancing!_   
> _I've got those_   
> _Ten little tapping toes,_   
> _And when I hear a tune_   
> _I can't control my dancing heels,_   
> _To save my soul!_   
> _Weary blues_   
> _Can't get into my shoes,_   
> _Because my shoes refuse,_   
> _To ever grow weary!_   
> _I keep cheerful on an earful_   
> _Of music sweet;_   
> _'Cause I got those hap-hap-happy feet!_   
> _\- Happy Feet,_ Link

It had been two days since the party at the Pole, and Jack was still reeling. Tooth had practically ambushed him with a dance right before the party had ended, which had been _awesome_ but...confusing.

He'd thought they were just friends, but...that dance. That _dance_. 

Jack thought he knew dancing, since he'd danced with so many over the years, but...those were friendly dances, no matter what some of them may have thought, even if he hadn't known it at the time. That dance with Tooth...if this had been a movie it would have been that moment in a Disney princess movie with the big dance between prince and princess, where everything goes all soft and the music swells and the happy-ever-after is pretty much guaranteed.

Jack landed lightly in a tree, laughing lightly at himself. Princess movie, indeed. Tooth was a Queen, no forgetting that. He was probably just reading way too much into a simple dance. 

He was so distracted by thoughts of that dance – and wondering if it meant anything besides just a dance – that it took longer than usual to realize something was subtly wrong with the woods he was perched in.

Shifting on his branch, he scanned the woods. Everything looked normal...there was Jamie and his friends doing something by Jack's lake, the leaves were turning bright colors (some of Jack's finest work, if he were being honest with himself), the birds...weren't singing.

Jack shot up from his lounging position in the tree so fast he almost fell out, looking around rapidly. Yeah, it could've just been the kids that made the birds go quiet, but...something felt wrong.

Abruptly deciding that the best place for him to be right now was by the kids, just in case he wasn't being paranoid, Jack slipped from his branch and breezed over to where they were playing, still feeling that thrill that came from being seen and acknowledged.

No matter how many times it happened, it wasn't growing old – especially when it was these kids still doing it, despite growing old enough they should have stopped believing by now.

“What'cha doin', kid?” he asked as he perched on top of his staff, looking down at them with amused interest as Jamie and Pippa flopped back into the leaves.

“The school dance is coming up,” Claude complained, flopping into the leaves by his friends. 

“And we're supposed to know how to dance by then,” his twin finished the complaint. 

“...and you can't just dance however you want why?” Jack asked, leaning forward until, by all rights, he should have fallen face first off the staff.

“Because our parents thought it'd be a good idea to make it all _fancy_ ,” Cupcake said, managing to inject despair into her voice. Jack had a fairly good idea why – Cupcake loved all things pink and pretty, but despaired of ever being pretty herself, considering herself too big, too clumsy, and anytime she was dragged to formal events it just seemed to solidify that idea further.

“But the dances are too hard,” Monty complained. “We're never gonna learn them in time.”

...well, there was one thing Jack could help out with at least. He slipped down off his staff, holding out a hand to Cupcake.

“So, what one's giving you problems?” he asked, pulling her away from the tree she'd been leaning against.

“You're gonna help us learn how to dance?” Jamie asked from his sprawl on the ground, looking up at Jack skeptically.

“I'll have you know there's a whole club dedicated to tracking who got to dance with me,” Jack said loftily. “Okay, so I just learned about it, but still.”

A flicker caught the corner of his eye, and he glanced at the shadows under the tree – a shadow that was darker then it should have been. Making a snap decision, he gave his staff what looked to be a careless spin, actually getting it into a battle-ready stance.

“Why don't you kids head back to Jamie's house and get the music? There's a couple things I have to take care of, then I'll come help you out.”

“We'll go to my house,” Cupcake cut in. “I've got the music, Jamie doesn't.” Jack gave her a little salute and launched into the air, watching to be sure the kids got out of the woods safely, the shadows reaching for them but not quite brave enough to touch the children with a Guardian hovering overhead. 

In Jack's opinion, right now Cupcake's house, much further inside Burgess than Jamie's, was ideal. The further from the woods and these shadows the kids got, the better.

As soon as all the kids were clear of the woods Jack turned back, glaring at the shadows as he followed them back into the woods. 

The shadows writhed under the bushes and trees, not willing to venture out of the natural shadows into the sunshine.

They didn't feel like Pitch's shadows, but he wasn't going to discount that. He didn't like the feel of these shadows, and he wanted them _out_ of his woods.

There was a taller shadow in the glen ahead. Landing silently and holding his staff ahead of him, pointed toward the threat, Jack walked stiffly toward the glen, ice crackling under him with every step.

The shadow moved its head and silver-gold eyes flashed. With a flourish, Jack planted the end of his staff in the ground and leaned on it, flashing a grin at the Boogeyman.

“Good morning, Pitch,” he said, knowing his offhand tone irritated the Nightmare King. Pitch had been subdued ever since his defeat on the Easter of '12, and Jack was enjoying pushing the envelope to see if there was anything savable in the other lonely spirit.

“Good morning, he says. To think that I've lived to be good morning-ed by Jack Frost as though I were selling buttons at the door,” Pitch muttered. 

Jack grinned wider, though it turned a touch feral around the edges. “Wanna tell me why you've got your shadows all through my woods?”

“They're hardly your woods, Frost,” Pitch said dismissively, ignoring Jack's derisive snort, “nor are they my shadows. I am simply waiting to reap what they sow.”

Rolling his eyes, Jack yoked his staff over his shoulders, taking to the air. “Yeah, 'cuz that's not creepy at all.”

Spinning, he dipped down and tapped Pitch on the nose, leaving a quick bite of frost. “You, sirrah, need a _hobby_.”

Pitch growled and swatted at Jack's hands, just barely missing. Jack laughed, landing on a tree branch and dancing along it, making dodging Pitch's sand into a dance and game all at once.

He laughed and twisted as Pitch snarled, striking out at him with his sand. Jack took a particular pleasure in freezing the sand into the most ridiculous shapes he could. 

Each time he could, he darted in to give Pitch another nip of frost, trying to see if he could get Pitch dancing, nearly saturating the snowballs and frost he tossed at Pitch with happy flakes, hoping he could get Pitch to quit being a Looming Drama King for a few minutes.

“C'mon, dance with me shadow man!” he laughed, tossing another snowball. It took some fancy footwork to avoid the sand Pitch threw at him for that, nearly slipping off the branch, and Pitch laughed.

Pitch _laughed_.

It was a happy, joyful laugh, one that sounded rusty from years of disuse, and even Pitch looked surprised that it had come from him. 

And as he continued to dodge nightmare sand, Jack suddenly realized that, without him even realizing it, Pitch had stopped fighting him and started _playing with him_.

Jack began to think that maybe, just maybe, he'd overdone it with the happy flakes.

The shadows didn't like Pitch laughing, though, and they were retreating, shrinking into themselves and huddling sullenly under the trees and bushes.

Then the first strands of dreamsand began to weave their way through the trees, shimmering in the sunlight, and the shadows fled even as Jack and Pitch continued their fight turned dance turned game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like making Pitch a giant dork. I know it's not book-compliant, but hey, such is the nature of fanfiction.


	24. Dance With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Dance with me, I want to be your partner_   
> _Can't you see the music is just starting_   
> _Night is falling, and I am calling_   
> _Dance with me_
> 
> _Fantasy could never be so giving_   
> _I feel free, I hope that you are willing_   
> _Pick your feet up, and kick your feet up_   
> _Dance with me_
> 
> _Let it lift you off the ground_   
> _Starry eyes, and love is all around us_   
> _I can take you where you want to go_
> 
> _Dance with me, I want to be your partner_   
> _Can't you see the music is just starting_   
> _Night is falling, and I am falling_   
> _Dance with me_   
> _\- Dance With Me, Orleans,[ Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6YpHDykn3A)_

Sandy hovered at the edge of the glen, watching as Pitch and Jack swirled and danced around the clearing, shaking his head fondly. Of all of them, of course it would be Jack that got Pitch to play for the first time in millennia.

When he'd felt the shadows moving and saw Jack and Pitch in the clearing, he'd feared the worst and sent a dreamsand message toward a little fairy he saw heading out with a tooth that she needed to fetch her mother, but it rather looked like he'd overreacted.

Jack spotted him and grinned, spinning to pull Sandy into the dance. Pitch hesitated, watching the two of them warily as he began to back toward his shadows and escape.

Before he could slip into the shadows a coil of dreamsand looped around his waist, pulling him away from them surprisingly gently. More dreamsand looped around Pitch's wrists and neck, pulling him up to look into Sandy's eyes.

Sandy smiled, a quick gamine grin of mischief worthy of Jack, at Pitch's wary eyes.

He tapped a gentle finger on Pitch's cheek, still grinning as he wagged his eyebrows exaggeratedly, grin turning to a predatory leer.

Pitch looked flustered. Jack, on the other hand, wasn't sure if he should be pointing out that that was Sandy's mortal enemy he was flirting with, throw up, or find some popcorn, because this had the potential to turn _epic_.

He heard a buzz and felt the breeze kicked up by Tooth's wings against his back as she dropped into the clearing and hovered by his side, both of them watching in impressed (and slightly mortified) silence as Sandy continued his silent seduction and flirtation uncaring of his audience.

“How long...” Tooth asked in an undertone, too quite to disturb the other two spirits, who had moved on to silent communication, Pitch's glares and head tilts more eloquent than even his usual words.

“A couple minutes,” Jack replied just as quietly. “I think Pitch is just as confused as we are.”

They watched in silence, Tooth poised to leap to Sandy's aid at any moment, while Jack bit his lip and watched with mixed amusement and concern.

Tooth had to bite back an instinctive blow with her wings and a very un-queenlike squeak when Jack's elbow nudged her ribs. She didn't take her eyes from the pair in the clearing, whose silent communication was getting more lewd by the moment, enough that she was vaguely surprised they hadn't scorched the grass around them yet, and elbowed Jack back.

“Betcha Sandy makes the first move,” he hissed. “Is is just me, or is Pitch... _blushing_?” Tooth giggled and was about to reply when Sandy made his move, just as Jack had predicted.

One small, golden hand grabbed one of Pitch's, the other going to Pitch's shoulder as Sandy was too short to hold Pitch's hand up and rest a hand on his waist at the same time.

With a wink at a suddenly flustered Pitch, Sandy spun them around the clearing, dancing in the air as Pitch stumbled and flailed, cursing less than Tooth had expected.

She tensed, waiting for Pitch to retaliate. 

Two sets of jaws dropped as Pitch stopped fighting Sandy, instead flowing with him around the clearing, dancing something that wasn't quite a waltz or tango or any other named dance but was perfectly them. 

“Oh I wish I had a camera,” Jack whispered, nearly inaudible, and mutely Tooth nodded.

None of the other Guardians were going to believe this happened.

Sandy gave Pitch a twirl, dipping him low with another lewdly exaggerated eyebrow wiggle, and for the second time in the last hour Pitch _laughed._

Sandy gave the watching Guardians a wink before hauling a suddenly protesting Pitch onto his rapidly forming dreamsand cloud, whisking them off into the sky to a chorus of indignant protests.

They watched him fly off, Pitch's protests trailing off with distance as they disappeared.

“Sooo...that was a thing. That just happened,” Jack said, scratching the back of his head while chuckling. 

Tooth shook her head, not quite sure what to think of what just happened. “What was going on? Mary Ellen just said something about Pitch before flying off,” she asked instead.

Jack had provided the lists of names, the baby teeth had simply chosen from them. It wasn't the same as when he Named Baby Tooth. Still, Tooth was grateful – it hadn't occurred to her, or anyone, that her baby teeth could be Named, but now they couldn't. And all because Jack wanted to do something nice for them.

“Oh, there were some freaky shadows hanging out here,” Jack said, attention still focused in the direction Sandy had disappeared in. “Got the kids to head out without freaking them, started looking for the source and found Pitch. They weren't his but he was hangin' around to 'reap the benefits', as he put it, and we started...well, it wasn't fighting, more like play fighting. Then Sandy showed up and well...” he gestured vaguely in Sandy's direction, finally turning to face Tooth properly.

“What happened to the shadows?” she asked, hands suddenly wishing for her sabers.

Jack shrugged. “They backed off when I came after them and ran off when Sandy showed up. Don't think they liked his glow.”

“And the kids?”

“At Cupcake's. I...kinda promised to help them practice for the school dance,” he laughed, giving his hair another embarrassed scratch. “Wanna come?”

About to refuse and go gather more teeth, Tooth hesitated. Jack was asking her to come play with him, and really expected her to blow him off.

Grinning, she grabbed his hand instead. “Lead the way,” she invited, pretending not to notice the frost coating his cheeks.

He recovered quickly, she gave him that much, taking to the skies and flying off to Cupcake's house, not letting go of her hand until they landed, just before slipping into the window Cupcake had left open for him.

Tooth hovered outside the window for a moment, catching her breath and sternly telling her heart to slow down. It was just a quick flight – holding hands, yes, but Jack _liked_ physical contact.

She heard Jack and the kids laughing inside and slipped in the window to join them.

There were cheers as she appeared and mentally she preened, just a little. She knew why they tried to keep some distance from the kids, but oh, it was hard to remember when seeing the kids was so much better, reminding her of why they did what they did.

“So, what dance was it you guys were having so much trouble with?” Jack asked, perching on the back of the couch. Jack never sat if he could help it, always perching on things. 

“A _waltz_ ,” Caleb said, flopping onto the couch in front of Jack, voice heavy with despair and disdain. “Who _waltzes_ anymore?”

Jack smirked, giving Caleb a careful poke in the stomach with the end of his staff, controlling his frost so not a speck bloomed on the teen. “Excuse you, I happen to _like_ the waltz.”

“Seems like it'd have too many rules for you,” Jamie commented, eyes sparkling as he teased Jack. Jack smirked back, shrugging.

Cupcake rolled her eyes, queuing up the cd player. “Want to demonstrate, then?” she asked.

“Tooth?” Jack asked instead of directly answering her, holding out a hand to Tooth. She took it, the two of them moving into position and waiting for Cupcake to start the music, both fighting back blushes.

Jack had thought that the dance they had shared at the party, and the magic around it, had been a fluke, brought on by Tooth's surprising cuddle. He'd been wrong.

Despite their audience, keeping their feet on the ground, and with no obvious moves like hesitantly wandering hands, it still was magic.

Tooth's feathers were so soft under his hands. He'd almost been too shocked during their first dance to properly realize just how soft they were, sliding under his hand like the finest of silks. He was almost afraid to touch her, afraid his hand would slip and bend a feather wrong and hurt her despite knowing that she was so incredibly strong.

The song they were dancing to drew to a close, and both fought back blushes as they drew back, trying to play it cool.

Jack coughed, rubbing at the hair at the back of his head and studiously not looking at Tooth.

“So...who wants a lesson?”

Tooth fluttered over to perch on the couch next to Cupcake, watching as Jack walked Jamie through the basic steps of the waltz. With her tail feathers, it was more comfortable than properly sitting.

“Looked a lot easier when you two were doing it,” Cupcake commented as Jamie stumbled through the steps. Tooth laughed softly, wings fluttering in amusement.

“Jack has a lot of practice at this,” she said simply. No use depressing the child by telling her that for years, ambush dancing had been Jack's main form of contact with other sentient life forms.

They were quiet for a few minutes, still watching Jack, before Cupcake spoke again. “Are you two dating?” she asked bluntly, and Tooth choked on air.

“Why...” she started, surprised into incoherence. First Cupid, and now Cupcake? What was it with people whose names started in 'Cup' figuring out how she felt?

“You like him, and he likes you,” Cupcake said, too quietly for anyone to hear but the two of them. “So?”

Tooth looked Cupcake over and abruptly decided to be honest with her. “Because Jack's been alone for a very, very long time,” she said gently. “And so I wanted him to get used to having friends first. Immortal courtship takes a long time, too.”

“So you're going to.”

“He'll never know what hit him,” Tooth replied, and hid her insecurities about what could go wrong in exchanging devious grins with Cupcake.

It was the truth, after all. She did this right, and Jack really might not know what hit him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Tooth is plotting something. Yes, I threw blacksand in there. Sandy is fun and I regret nothing.  
> Also, I love having Jack help the Baby Teeth find names. I've picked up some names for them here and there, and Mary Ellen really stuck.   
> Trying for longer chapters now that things are really happening.


	25. Take a Chance on Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _If you change your mind, I'm the first in line_   
> _Honey I'm still free_   
> _Take a chance on me_   
> _If you need me, let me know, gonna be around_   
> _If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down_   
> _If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown_   
> _Honey I'm still free_   
> _Take a chance on me_   
> _Gonna do my very best, baby can't you see_   
> _Gotta put me to the test, take a chance on me_   
> _\- Take a Chance on Me, Abba,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSQiGa0sGe8)_

Tooth spun as she shot off directions to her girls, her mind spinning as fast as her body as she planned, able to shoot off directions to her girls even while so distracted. 

She didn't think human courtship rituals – especially those she'd grown up with – really counted in this situation. Besides, quite a few of those involved the parents of the couple working out dowries and the details for the ceremonies. Neither of them _had_ parents anymore, so it wouldn't really work.

Well, North would probably _love_ to stand in as Jack's father, but until Jack said North was his father and not coworker...sorry North, not going to happen.

But...there _were_ rituals the Sisters of Flight had used when choosing a mate, to show interest. Her parents had skipped more than a few steps, but...her father had died to save her mother, before they'd even spoken. He'd gotten better, but still. That sort of thing rather justified skipping a few steps until after the wedding, since it covered quite a few in one act.

Her wings nearly stalled as she realized...Jack wasn't going to recognize any of it as courting. He didn't realize when spirits were flirting with him, and that was _human_ style flirting, nothing as 'other' as a Sister of Flight. 

Baby Tooth paused long enough to chirp encouragingly and rub her tiny face against her mother's cheek, and Tooth's face firmed as all her fairies added their encouragement. Jack might not recognize it at first, but he'd clue in sooner or later.

A cool breeze wafted through her palace, and she grinned. Jack, just on time as if summoned. And if he was coming...may as well have some fun.

Giggling as the idea hit, Tooth darted upward, hiding against the roof of the control center. A proper Sister of Flight courtship included showing off your flying with lots of dive-bombing and acrobatics – may as well have some _fun_ with it.

She waited until Jack peeked into the command central, clasping hands over her mouth to stifle her giggles. It was tempting to reveal herself as he looked around the area, but she held out, waiting as he slowly made his way into the command central.

He inched his way into the main area, looking around warily. “...Tooth?” 

With a mock roar Tooth shot down from the ceiling, pulling up at the last second to lightly brush against Jack's hair. He yelped, ducking as Tooth zipped up to the ceiling again, laughing.

She laughed again as she got a good look at his face, diving down again to hover by his side. “Thought to sneak up on me, did you?” she asked, cocking a hip and hovering in front of him, grinning crookedly. 

“Can you blame me for trying?” he asked, leaning on his staff with a ducked head, exaggerated puppy eyes looking up at her as he practically sparkled with excitement. 

Tooth smirked back, ignoring her swooning fairies and pretending she wasn't inwardly giggling. “Well, then, did you need something?” she asked instead.

Jack brightened, eyes sparkling with fun and mischief. “Yes, yes I do,” he said, pretending at seriousness. “I need _you_ ,” he took Tooth's hand, tugging her away from the command central, “to come play with _me_ ,” he finished with a huge grin.

“Jack, I have to direct the fairies,” Tooth protested, pulling back. Baby Tooth spun up between them, a few of her sisters accompanying her, all of them chirping excitedly and begging to be allowed to take over. 

...they'd been training for it, but...it was supposed to be for emergencies, not so their mother could goof off. But she did want too...sensing victory, the baby teeth unleashed their ultimate weapon – the puppy eyes. Jack didn't stand a chance against them, and though Tooth was usually immune, with Jack grinning at her, adding his own pleading eyes to the onslaught, and her own wavering, she had no choice but to give in.

“All right,” she sighed, pretending to still be unwilling. “I'll let you girls take over for awhile, but come get me the instant there's a problem.”

Jack's laughter almost drowned out their eager promises, the girls shooting into Tooth's former place as Jack tugged her hand, urging her into the sky. “C'mon, Tooth! Bet you can't catch me!”

And oh, if that didn't hit another set of courtship rituals without realizing it – the chase and catch, showing off your flying skills, and the silly contest to prove you were serious about this. Winning wasn't the point, trying was. Now if only Jack knew...

Tooth had no idea what kind of contest she'd have to try to 'win' Jack, but Jack had just set his one of his own without realizing it – probably the easiest he would, until he knew what was going on. One of the others would probably set something up once they realized what she was doing...and oh, wasn't that going to be interesting.

For now, she laughed and launched herself after Jack. He whooped and took off into the sky, dipping and twisting, showing off for Tooth.

With a flash of a grin he shot towards the sky, climbing as Tooth followed, laughing. She had nearly caught up with him when he winked, closing his eyes and falling like a stone.

Tooth's cry of alarm was drowned out by the screaming wind as she dove after Jack. They sped toward the water, the wind ripping past them as they plummeted downward, Tooth's desperate hands just missing Jack's legs with each shocked grab.

He cocked his head, opening his eyes just long enough to wink at her again. Seconds before he hit the waters his eyes shot open, snapping out of his dive to shoot across the water, kicking it up in a high, arching spray in his wake.

Jack laughed as he streaked away, Tooth gaping after him for a brief moment before giving chase. Now _that_ was a dive bomb!

They laughed as they dashed across the sky, dipping and twirling, dancing through the sky as if Tooth had always been free to dance this way, spinning around each other in dizzying circles. 

They waved at Sandy as they passed him, the small dreamweaver beaming as they shot past, still partially playing, partially dancing, neither close to being tired yet.

Tooth grabbed Jack's hand with a burst of speed, swinging them around as they laughed harder, trailing off as they slowed down and realized that somehow, during their twirling, her hands had landed on his shoulder and waist, his on her waist. 

Jack's face frosted over as they sank towards the ground, landing on a rock outcropping overlooking more water. They parted as they sank, Tooth's hand sliding down Jack's arm until her hand laid on his, smiling to herself as he hesitantly turned his hand to lace his fingers with hers.

They didn't speak, just sat looking over the water quietly. After a time, Tooth leaned her head against Jack's shoulder, feeling him stiffen in surprise. Finally he relaxed and Tooth sighed.

Hopefully even Jack was going to get a hint after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...two week hiatus. Sorry about that. First week was because I was still writing this chapter. Then that night...my gramma passed away. I just didn't have the heart to work on fandom things at all that week, so I had to take a second one off. Her passing has caused a lot of problems around here we're working through – not the least of which is just plain missing her. Getting things back to normal around here as much as I can.


	26. Dance in the Circle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _But please come, join, dance in the circle,_   
>  _The voices will make your heart yearn--_   
>  _To please come, join, dance in the circle,_   
>  _But know that you'll never return--_   
>  _-Dance in the Circle, Heather Alexander,_   
>  [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OROIBwwg3rw)

Jack did a loop the loop in midair, laughing wildly – mostly at himself, if he were being honest, but he didn't care.

He hadn't expected _that_ when he'd dragged Tooth out to play with him! If anything, it had felt less like playing and more like...well...more like a proper _date_. 

Especially when Tooth had held his hand, and laid her head on his shoulder...maybe he was getting ahead of himself, thinking she might be interested in him for more than his teeth, but at the moment he didn't care. Besides, he could always hope, right?

And the more time he spent with Tooth, the more he did. 

He slowed as music teased the edges of his hearing, just barely audible, breaking into his thoughts. Still revved up, he turned and started to follow it. Another dance sounded pretty good right now, if just to burn off some of this energy and spread a little of this Joy.

The closer he got to the music, the more...off, it sounded. Fun, playful, danceable...entrancing, bewitching, subtly _wrong_. 

Jack came to a stop midair as he realized the last, confusion, surprise, and worry all warring for supremacy. _Anything_ that used entrancement was major league bad news. He might have been strong enough to handle it by himself – if there was anything to handle – but...the others were getting on his case about calling for help and not going in alone anymore...

He flew a little closer and felt, with an almost physical touch, the music wrap around him, whispering promises he refused to listen to closely enough to make out, calling him closer to the clearing it seemed to be coming from.

Making a snap second decision, Jack dropped to the ground, far enough away he could still hear the music but wasn't feeling the pull anymore. Sandy could be anywhere, he'd kept Tooth away from her work for too long already today, and North was too far away. Only one more to try that he might be able to reach before whatever was making that music got what it wanted.

He gave the ground three quick taps with his staff, jumping out of the way as the hole opened at his feet.

Grinning, he leaned over the hole, debating how to send a message down it. He hadn't really thought it would open, despite Bunny claiming the tunnels would open for any of them now, if they knocked. Security risk, maybe, but better than leaving each other stranded.

Spotting an egg hovering near the entrance, he swooped down and caught it. He dug in his pocket, giving a little cheer when he found the marker. Holding the egg carefully, he scribbled _Poss. trouble. Plz help? J._ on the side. 

Setting the egg back down, he chuckled as it kicked sulkily, obviously irritated at the black markings coating its shell. “Hurry and make sure Bunny gets the message, and I'll try to talk him into painting you all pretty, okay?” 

It gave a happy little jump at that and scurried off down the tunnel as fast as its little legs could carry it. Jack gave a little jump to sit on the edge of the hole, dangling his legs inside it as he waited, keeping an ear to the music while trying not to let it enchant him.

He never would admit it, but he was more than a little relieved when he heard Bunny speeding toward him through the tunnel. He'd never heard anything like this music before, and he had a bad feeling about it.

Given his track record with new things, he felt rather justified in a little paranoia. Plus...someone actually responded when he called for help. That was new, and felt pretty good. Like he really was part of the team, more than all their reassurances had.

Bunny leapt out of the hole and immediately Jack took to the air, the hole closing quickly. They ignored it, Bunny looking up at Jack with a cocked ear, obvious in his curiosity despite his pretense at irritation.

“What's up, Frostbite?” he asked, sitting back on his haunches. “Some of us have work ta do, ya know.” It lacked the bite it would once have had, and Jack bit back the first retort about how far away Easter was. Bunny had gardens to tend, flowers that would paint the eggs that needed babying yet ever since that disastrous Easter, chocolate supplies to restock, and he needed a lot of time to work on those before they'd be back to how they once were.

His ear flicked, and Jack knew he'd heard the music. “That music's what's up,” Jack said. “Something about it I don't like. You guys keep getting on me for jumping in without backup, so...”

Bunny stood shock still for a few seconds, twisted toward the music, not even twitching so much as a whisker as he listened.

“Oh, that's bad news Frostbite,” Bunny growled, crouching, claws digging into the ground. “Sounds like a fairy circle ta me.”

“Meaning, Cottontail?” Jack asked, hopping on his staff and looking down, watching Bunny closely.

Bunny twisted to look up at Jack, keeping one ear cocked toward the music. “Meaning the Fae, Jack. Whether it's Seleighe or Unseleighe doesn't really matter with a circle, 'cept ta figure out if they're just dancin' or if they're tryin' ta draw humans to 'em. Even then, could still be either one, dependin' on what they want the humans for.”

“It felt like entrapment magic to me,” Jack muttered, glaring in the direction of the music.

“An' tha's breakin' the Treaty,” Bunny growled, managing to imply the capital letter.

“Treaty?”

Bunny shook his head, growling. “Someone shoulda told ya about it. Seems there's a lot 'a things ya shoulda been told and no one did.” He sighed, looking up at Jack again. “Sorry again, Jackie. Tell ya about the Treaty afta we get back to the Pole. We gotta take care o' this first.”

“How?” Jack asked, taking to the air to follow as Bunny crept into the undergrowth, going from branch to branch and following the faint sound of cursing as Bunny fought through the brush.

Grunting, Bunny came out of the underbrush to stand next to the tree Jack perched in. The music was louder here, the entrancement strong enough Jack was consciously having to block out the music. “The music botherin' ya, Snowflake?” Bunny called up as Jack shook his head, grimacing.

About to shrug it off and claim he was fine, Jack huffed, glad for once Baby Tooth wasn't with him. He wasn't sure how it'd affect her, and he wasn't sure he could look himself in the face again if he lost her to the Fae, let alone look Tooth in the eyes. “A bit. I can ignore it, but it keeps trying to pull me in.”

Bunny's ears flattened at that, claws digging into the tree. “I take it that's bad?” Jack guessed lightly, gripping his staff close. Bunny panicking was high on his list of 'things to freak over'.

“It's not supposed ta affect spirits, unless they're aimin' fer a specific group tha spirit falls in – or aimin' for spirits in general. An' since I don't feel it...”

“Think they're aiming for kids?” Jack asked, deliberately controlling his frost when it tried to coat the tree. Save it for the fairies, Jack. “And that's why I can feel it but it's not pulling me in?”

“Just young enough to hear the entrancin', old enough for it not ta' work,” Bunny agreed.

“So how do we stop them?” Jack asked again. He didn't deal with the Fae, just ran the other way if he saw any. He was powerful, sure, but there was something about them that made him just want to _get away_. 

He didn't trust them, not one inch. Maybe it was the glamour, or the trickery, but there was just something about the ones he'd met that made his skin crawl – and he'd faced down Wendigo, General Winter, and Pitch freaking Black.

“Depends on if they've got anybody,” Bunny answered. “If they haven't, we try an' drive 'em off, back Underhill. If they have, we gotta distract 'em to break the entrancement an' get the humans away first.”

“Got it,” Jack grinned, Bunny meeting it with one of his own. _No one_ was gonna mess with kids on their watch, Fae or not.

 

They inched their way through the forest, long practice and extra caution keeping them silent. The music was coming from deep in the woods, where a human was unlikely to stumble upon it. 

Bunny came to an abrupt halt, hissing quietly, and Jack landed lightly above his head. Any smart comments he might have made about the noises Bunny was making were forgotten when he got a good look inside the small clearing.

It was an improvised fairy circle at best, but it was holding, glowing faintly to spirit eyes. Two fae, elves by the look of it, the old, deadly, eerily beautiful kind, danced inside the circle, two more sitting at the side of the circle playing harp and flute. 

Dancing along with the fae were a group of six children, two of whom knew what was happening, if the tears running down their faces and stumbling feet were anything to go by. The other four were blank faced, their faces fixed in smiles as they tripped through the dance, their eyes empty of emotion.

Jack bit back a hiss of his own, glaring at the circle. His first instinct was to leap out and freeze the fae where they sat or danced, but that might not free the kids, knowing the fae. 

“So, plan?” he demanded. Bunny's ear flicked, the only sign he'd heard Jack as he stared at the group.

“Only way they're gonna let those kids go is if they find a better prize,” he finally growled. “We gotta get them to focus that magic on somethin' else, or it ain't gonna let the kids go. That or find a way to break the spell.”

“Right. Better prize.” Jack glared out over the clearing again, cocking his head to listen closer to the music. It still pulled at him, but although the pull was stronger here, wrapped around him with a magical touch that almost felt slimy, made him want to scrub himself down, he felt no urge to answer its call. “Get the kids away as soon as you can, Cottontail.”

“Jack, wait! What're you...” Bunny cut off with a curse as Jack stepped into the clearing, taking the few steps needed to bring him into the fae's sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be a one chapter shot. Guess what grew on me. Oops... _Jack what are you thinking?_


	27. Dance of the Wild Faeries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Come and play as the wild faeries play_   
> _in a magical circle, a faerie ring_   
> _You won't want to leave_   
> _and forever you'll stay_   
> _Where the vision is bright as spring_
> 
>  
> 
> _Come and dance the wild faerie dance_  
>  _Spin in a circle as fast as light_  
>  _once you begin you are caught in a trance_  
>  _and the world can grow old in a single night_  
>  _-Dance of the Wild Faeries, Wendy Rule,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvLbctdFjr8)_

The music faltered, the two musicians catching sight of Jack and fumbling in surprise, recovering quickly, as if they'd never fumbled. The two inside the circle didn't falter their steps, but their eyes gleamed as they caught sight of Jack, standing outside the circle near the edge of the clearing and swaying faintly as though caught in the music's pull.

They ignored the children, who continued to dance, jerkily, like puppets whose strings have been dropped by the puppeteer in favor of a new toy to turn to Jack with wide, hungry grins. 

Jack kept pretending that the music was entrancing him, cocking his head to the side but refusing to move forward just yet. A spirit was a better prize than human children, and a Guardian...Jack just hoped they'd gotten the memo about his new status. It was a gamble, that they wouldn't make their music strong enough to catch him for real, but it was one he was willing to take – for the children.

The two who'd been crying were the first to pull free as the fae turned their attention to drawing Jack closer to the circle, the music letting them free as it turned to Jack with only the barest minimum left for them, the hold on them already weak. They stumbled out of the circle, falling over themselves as they fled.

There was a rustling in the brush and Jack floated a bit closer to the circle, putting a little bit of a spin, almost a twirl, into it, letting the fae think they were pulling him closer to dancing to distract them from the tiny cries, quickly shushed, the children gave as they saw Bunny.

He hesitated at the edge of the circle, drawing back a little, as if he were about to fly away. The musicians played more forcefully, the dancers giving little calls of encouragement, and Jack forced back a shiver as he floated over the ring's boundary.

Careful not to put a foot to the ground, he danced slowly on the air, hesitatingly, as though half captured by music and circle but still fighting it off. 

The four enchanted children were still dancing, but there was life coming back to their eyes as the fae focused more and more on Jack, who continued his back and forth game, flitting closer to the two dancing fae, almost dancing himself, before drawing back, hovering over their heads and far out of their reach, keeping his face blank and trying his best to look half spellbound.

So long as he didn't set foot in the circle, he should be safe, he reasoned. The fae were like that – often cruel, and word-literal. Setting foot in a fairy circle was what got you caught, gave them a right to call you prey, so he kept to the air, keeping well out of reach so they couldn't pull him to the ground.

As the children showed more life he grew more daring, swooping until his toes hovered just over the grass, and he could swear the fae held their breath, the music focusing solely on him in those few seconds, abandoning the children completely.

He shot back into the sky, a good six feet above the ground, and almost heard the fae groan in frustration. _Good._

The first of the still captured children stumbled free, the fae letting it go without a second glance. Their attention was so focused on Jack they didn't see Bunny reach from the underbrush to urge the child to him, darting into his embrace and crying into the thick fur.

Jack fought against gritting his teeth or gripping his staff tighter at the sound of crying. He couldn't let them know he wasn't bespelled, but the urge to freeze them was rising.

Not until the kids are safe, he repeated as a mantra. Not until they're all safe.

Seeing the other kids faltering, he started to dance, a proper dance, slowly at first but growing faster, still keeping to the air and refusing to touch the ground, and the fae drew closer upon their prize, sure his dancing meant he was coming under their spell.

It felt a little like one of the danced he'd do on his lake – a little of this, a little of that, all mixed together into a single dance – but there was no outpouring of joy powering his dance this time. Just a solid wish to keep from falling under the music's spell...and to smack a few fairy heads with his staff.

He spun and dipped, feeling the fae's hands brush by his feet as they tried to lure him down into the grass, giving a sassy, taunting little hip wiggle to hold their attention.

One paused in the chase, looking back over at the children, who were slowly but surely coming free from the enchantment that kept them in the circle. 

Panicking, Jack swooped down, forming a happy flake that he tapped onto the tip of her upturned nose. She blinked at the unfamiliar magic and Jack shot up into the air, hurrying back into a dance as she shook her head, automatically reaching for him.

He was just quick enough, her hands brushing his ankle as he shot out of her reach, twisting to avoid the other fae.

With a nearly audible snap the eldest of the children still left in the circle broke free, and she grabbed hold of the hands of the younger two, dragging them behind her as she fled – straight into the underbrush and Bunny's open arms.

Panting, Jack shot higher into the air, well out of the reach of fae hands. The musicians stopped, snarling as they realized they'd been tricked and their original prey had escaped.

The dancers stopped with the music, snarls transforming their faces from the beauty that covered them back into their true natures for the moment until they regained control of themselves.

“Come down and dance with us,” one called up to Jack, her voice poisonously sweet, overly sweet, sending shivers down his back. Shivers for Jack Frost, who didn't feel the cold. “Come play with us. We will take you home with us and love you.”

“Sweet little child,” the other called up, “you don't belong in this world. Come with us, back to Underhill, where we know how to treat a treasure like you. We will care for you, sweet little sprite.”

Jack gritted his teeth as the magic in those promises wove around him, denying them their prey as fought off their magic. “Thanks but no thanks,” he said with a grin, hovering far out of their reach. “Not much for that sorta thing, ya know.”

The fae below him snarled, baring teeth much sharper than they had any right to be, fingers twisted into claws. 

“You were breaking the treaty,” Bunny said bleakly as he stepped out of the underbrush, and Jack cursed silently. Bunny was supposed to get the kids home _now_ , not stick around for Jack. Where were the kids?

“We don't answer to you, _Guardian_ ,” one of the fae growled, not so beautiful now, more feral than beautiful, making the title into an epithet as they bunched together in the safety of their circle. Jack drifted upwards, far out of reach and toward the edge of the circle as they huddled, wanting far away from them. 

“You do when you threaten the children,” Bunny growled. One of the fae glanced up at Jack, expression sly and calculating for a split second before turning pleading.

“You will protect us, won't you, Spirit of Winter? You're nearly fae, like us, and they've done nothing to gain your loyalty. We'll reward you graciously if you aid us now.”

“Wow...” Jack breathed, lowering to hover by Bunny's side, still refusing to touch the ground. “First you want to keep me like a pet, then you try to bribe me. Real nice. Just since it looks like you didn't get the memo – I _like_ kids. I've always tried to keep 'em safe. Enough so, I've got a shiny new Guardian title of my own.”

“Still squeaks when he turns around too fast, it's so new,” Bunny snarked, and Jack grinned. They couldn't be in too much trouble if Bunny was willing to rag on him, right?

More hisses from the circle, and Bunny took a threatening step forward. Abruptly the circle flared, and both Jack and Bunny were forced back with cries of pain, shielding their eyes from the blinding light.

When they finally blinked away the afterimages, the circle was gone – and so were the fae. 

Bunny started cursing, and some small part of Jack listened and cataloged all of it. He may have his own impressive list of curses, but Bunny's were better. Especially when he started mixing Australian and Pookan.

The rest of Jack stared at the former circle, craning his neck to look at it rather than come close. Yeah, the fae were supposedly gone, but he didn't trust them one inch.

Behind him, he heard Bunny grunt, apparently done with the swearing for the moment. “Get away from there, Frostbite,” he said irritably. “I saw the way they were lookin' at ya, yer better off keepin' away from even former circles.”

Shrugging, Jack floated away from the former circle. “What about the kids?” he asked as he moved, and Bunny smiled softly, the smile he seemed to reserve for kids and family crossing his face.

“I tol' ya never ta race a rabbit, mate. They didn't weigh but nuthin, and I had 'em home an' back before any of ya knew what happened. They're back with their parents an' just fine. Now c'mon,” he said, tapping open a tunnel. “We gotta tell North about this. Looks like we found more ta worry about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fae aren't the only ones who can exploit loopholes. ;) Jack, you're still in trouble, and damn lucky. (May be another break between updates next week, I keep trying to get ahead but...)


	28. (A Problem Like) Maria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _How do you solve a problem like Maria?_   
> _How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?_   
> _How do you find a word that means Maria?_   
> _A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!_
> 
> _Many a thing you know you'd like to tell her_   
> _Many a thing she ought to understand_   
> _But how do you make her stay_   
> _And listen to all you say_   
> _How do you keep a wave upon the sand_
> 
> _When I'm with her I'm confused_   
> _Out of focus and bemused_   
> _And I never know exactly where I am_   
> _Unpredictable as weather_   
> _She's as flighty as a feather_   
> _She's a darling! She's a demon! She's a lamb!_
> 
> _She'd outpester any pest_   
> _Drive a hornet from its nest_   
> _She could throw a whirling dervish out of whirl_   
> _She is gentle! She is wild!_   
> _She's a riddle! She's a child!_   
> _She's a headache! She's an angel!_   
> _She's a girl!_
> 
> _\- Maria, Sound of Music,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKZF0oG1E14)_

North paced the length of the study where they'd dragged him from his workshop, stroking his beard and keeping silent as Bunny and Jack (mostly Bunny) filled him in.

“So then Jack – the show pony – decided to give me a heart attack and just walk out there and let 'em think they caught him,” Bunny complained. North bit back laughter at the unrepentant grin on Jack's face as Bunny glared at him. Bunny groaned.

“Don't encourage 'im, North. Yer just as bad as he is.”

Jack grinned wider and North couldn't hold back the laughter. Bunny groaned again, rolling his eyes. “Right, show pony decides to scare the hraka out of me and it's a giant joke to both of you. You were acting like they had you, ya drongo, so excuse me for worrin' over a teammate!”

Jack ducked his head repentantly, giving Bunny an apologetic look from under his bangs. “That look might work on Toothie but not on me, Frostbite. Still irritated. You're just lucky it worked.”

North waved it off, still chuckling, though the close call they'd had sobered him quickly. Bunny rolled his eyes but kept talking, laying out the rest.

Bunny wrapped up the story, settling back into the crouch that looked so uncomfortable to a human. “We need ta tell the others, so they'll know what ta look for, but it's not aurora level urgent...probably,” he said. 

“You think they might try again, since they didn't get the kids or the spirit?” Jack asked, hopping up to sit on the corner of the huge desk in front of the window, legs dangling. Bunny shrugged.

“They were fae. Seelie or Unseelie, I don't know, but it don't really matter. Ya can't tell what they'll do, no matter which court they come from. Doubt it, though – not right away at least. More likely to be off sulking. Still, we gotta do _something_ when they broke the treaty that blatantly, an' they'll probably try again sooner or later.”

“That's right,” Jack jumped up to perch on the desk rather than sit, pointing at Bunny, “you promised to tell me about this 'Treaty' they were breaking, and all the rest.”

“I send yeti to fetch Tooth and message to Sandy,” North said immediately, heading for the door.

“Coward,” Bunny muttered, flicking his ears at North's retreating back. He sighed heavily, making himself comfortable. “Right, yer a Guardian now, so ya need ta know. Probably really needed ta know yonks ago, but...”

Jack waved it off, leaning forward until it looked certain he'd take a header off the desk. 

“Right. Well. Still mad atcha', but...when ya boil it all down, it's pretty simple. The Fae keep themselves Underhill an' leave the humans – 'specially the kids – alone, and the other spirits keep cold iron and humans out of Underhill.”

“...and you couldn't say that when we were sneaking up on them, why?” Jack asked, tilting his head in honest inquiry when that was all that was forthcoming. Bunny sighed.

“ 'Cuz that's me boiling it down to very, very simple terms. I didn't know what we might find. There's exceptions an' allowances an' such built into it. Ya can read, right?”

Jack glared at him. “I had three hundred years to learn, and I could before I died anyway. I'm not ignorant.”

Bunny held up a pacifying hand. “Didn't mean ta say ya were, Frostbite. Just makin' sure. Lots o' spirits can't. North has a copy of the treaty somewhere, and so does Tooth. I do too, but I'm not sure where it is right now. Ya can read it over when ya get a minute an' get all the details. Heck, ya can start readin' it over now if ya want.”

Mollified for now, Jack settled back onto the corner of the desk to wait for Sandy and Tooth to arrive as Bunny loped to the door, asking a yeti to fetch the treaty.

 

Tooth zipped in through the skylight, too impatient to bother with doors today, feathers twitching as she brushed through the magic keeping the cold out so the skylight could remain open.

The yeti North had sent hadn't been very clear in its message, and since the portals were uncomfortable for her to use, she chose to fly. Still, she had covered the globe as quickly as she could. Even if Jack and Bunny were at the pole now, something was going down, had already started, and she wasn't going to be left out of it.

She bypassed the main workroom floor, heading towards North's personal study when a yeti nodded her in the right direction.

Opening the door greeted her with something she never thought she'd see – Jack, perched on the edge of the desk like something feral, holding a long parchment roll, studying it intently.

He looked up with a bright grin when she entered, waving it at her.

“Did you know this thing's crazy over complicated?” he asked. Tooth blinked, the baby teeth who'd accompanied her echoing her confusion at the non-sequitur. “I mean, I get that with fae, you have to be really, really specific, but this is a bit much for how simple it really is.”

She looked over at Bunny, who was a rather worrying mix of amused and irritated, before fluttering over to see what Jack was reading.

After a moment of debate she settled for hovering just behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder as she leaned over for a closer look. 

If he leaned a little into the touch, seemed to welcome it and that lit a little fire in her heart, that was for the two of them to privately know.

“...Jack...why are you reading the Fae Treaty?”

“Had a bit of a run-in with some, Toothie,” Bunny replied before Jack could. “Give ya the whole story when Sandy gets 'ere so we don't have ta repeat it a third time.”

Tooth nodded, putting her curiosity firmly on hold to listen as Jack started to ramble again.

“You know, something I don't get here. Who'd sign this thing?” he asked. When all he got was blank looks he clarified with, “Can't see the Fae admitting anyone was as powerful as they are to negotiate with, or who they'd have sign the spirit side of the treaty. What made them agree to negotiate with...” he glanced down at the bottom of the parchment, taking note of the long list of names on it and finishing with “...well, everyone on this.”

“We had all the spirits who were powerful enough to go against the Fae and win or considered somehow royalty sign it, at the time,” Tooth said, looking over the treaty herself. “They respect power, and with all of us together, we could convince them. Really, we should have updated it by now. See, Bunny, Sandy, and I signed it, but North wasn't considered strong enough yet. Still too new – barely a spirit. You probably should sign it, when we finally get a chance to renegotiate it. You're a Guardian, and powerful enough without that.”

Jack bit his lip, not sure how he felt about that as he glanced at the list of names at the bottom of the treaty, picking out Tooth's and Bunny's – both of whom had signed with their full names – in between Mother Nature's and Amaterasu's. 

He took a good look at the names on the Fae side of the treaty. Topping the list were King Oberon and Queen Titania for the Seleighe court, Queen Mab for the Unselieghe. A list of Fae followed, those important enough to have Names, and he noticed Robin Goodfellow at the top of the list. 

He'd have to tease Puck about that next time he saw them. Apparently they were allowed out of Underhill as they wished, so long as they didn't cause irreversible harm.

...knowing Puck, they really, _really_ should have been more specific with that bit of the treaty. Yeah, they weren't malicious, but still...Puck.

He went back to reading the treaty, glancing up to wave cheerfully at Sandy as the dreamweaver floated in, still very conscious of Tooth's hand on his shoulder.

Bunny started telling the story of what they'd encountered earlier that day and Jack tuned him out. The treaty was complicated enough, despite the overall agreement being so simple, that parts needed his full attention.

He only really noticed when Tooth's hand began to tighten on his shoulder when it began to reach the point of pain. Blinking, he slowly lowered the parchment enough to glance over it at the others, finally listening to Bunny.

Bunny was reciting the part where Jack had – to use Bunny's phrase – 'scared the _hraka_ out of him', and telling the others how Jack had pretended to be enchanted to draw the Fae's attention away from the kids so they could break free.

The more Bunny spoke, the tighter Tooth's hand got. Jack risked a glance out of the corner of his eye, pretending to still be reading the treaty. 

“Jack, what were you _thinking_?” she finally burst out, interrupting Bunny. She darted in front of Jack, yanking the treaty down so she could see his face. “Do you have any idea how close you came to them getting you?”

“I was thinking I couldn't let them get away with the kids,” Jack said defensively. “And that I'd be safe if I didn't set foot in the circle. Tooth, there wasn't _time_ for a better plan!”

“So you... _argh_!” she groaned, hands clenching at her sides. Jack kept silent, as did the others, as she buzzed around the room in frustration.

Then North had to open his mouth. “Tooth, is fine...”

“Is not fine!” she snapped, zipping to point in his face. “You know what the fae are like!”

Jack floated off the corner of the desk, managing to catch Tooth's pointing hand gently, looking up at her repentantly through his bangs. “But I am fine, now. Tooth, c'mon. I'm sorry I scared you, and Bunny, but I had to do something. There wasn't any _time_ ,” he repeated. It was one thing to get Bunny all worked up – that's what brothers are for, right? – but somehow, not Tooth.

Her hand twisted in his, holding on tightly. “You...ugh. I don't even...Don't tempt the fae, Jack,” she said earnestly, looking into his eyes in a way that, in any other circumstance, would have him blushing ice down his hoodie. “They're vindictive, and tricky.”

“Won't do it on purpose,” he promised. “Really didn't want to do it this time.”

Tooth took a deep breath, obviously making herself calm down. She slid her hand from his, and he missed the warmth immediately.

Then she threw her arms around him, dragging him in close, and he did frost-blush, hands fluttering in surprise. He still wasn't _used_ to hugs. After those few awkward moments he managed to wrap his arms around her and hug back.

They broke apart after a minute, both blushing and not looking at each other. Jack leapt back onto the desk, coughing into his hand as Tooth brushed her hands over her crest.

Sandy was laughing silently, covering his face with both hands. Bunny, meanwhile, was looking speculatively between Tooth and Jack. Jack, meanwhile, was still wondering why she was so upset that _he'd_ been in danger. Maybe...

North clapped his huge hands, startling everyone. “So, we know what we need find, now! If fae are breaking treaty, must find out which court and talk to King or Queen!”

“An' just how do ya propose we do that, North?” Bunny demanded. “All the old doors are closed.”

North grinned, and Bunny flopped back, groaning about 'bloody crazy cossacks'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hornbooks were a thing in colonial times. A piece of parchment or paper, covered with a sheet of horn, for kids to learn to read from – mostly the Bible, but still. So it's possible Jack could've known how to read.
> 
> I could not decide on a song for this chapter. It almost got delayed (again) because I 1) still am not 100% happy with the song and 2) am not 100% happy with Tooth's reactions.
> 
> Also, longer chapters are going to be a thing now if I can help it.


	29. Body Language

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Ooo, that body's like music to my ear_   
> _Ooo, that body's like music to my ear_   
> _Ooo, that body's like music to my ear_   
> _'Cause what you want is right here_
> 
> _Now, I don't speak Spanish, Japanese or French_   
> _But the way that body's talkin' definitely makes sense_   
> _It's her, her body, her body, her body language_   
> _It's her, her body, her body, her body language_   
> _The way she moves around_   
> _When she grinds to the beat_   
> _Breaking it down articulately_   
> _It's her, her body, her body, her body language_   
> _It's her, her body, her body, her body language_
> 
> _-Body Language, Jesse McCartney,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anBHgqlFRnM)_

Tooth mentally cursed North and his wonderful, horrible ideas. She just knew he suspected she was courting Jack, and he was doing this on purpose. Then again, if the looks Bunny and Sandy had given her after her little outburst at the pole were any indication, they suspected too.

...Okay, scratch that, Sandy _definitely_ knew. For someone who never spoke, he could get across more with a look then some spirits could with speeches.

...the  and wink also helped get his point across, a bit.

North's plan was fairly simple – find a fairy circle, and they could leave a message for the rulers of the fae courts and leave the rest to them. No more dark spirits, no more fae tempting children, unless they wanted to break the treaty.

They'd split into teams so they could cover for each other while still making good time over the globe. North and Bunny were searching one section, Sandy another (his sand covering for a lack of partner), and the girls were watching the operation, with Baby Tooth (reluctantly – she would rather be helping Jack search) in charge as she and Jack searched for fairy circles across the rest. 

It was hard to concentrate on finding fairy circles, and only a lifetime of dedication managed to keep her attention on her task.

But Jack kept giving her courtship signals (and just being unfairly pretty) _and he had no idea_.

Beside her, Jack arched his back, diving backwards towards the ground. He twisted as he dove to scan the ground, and Tooth was distracted by thoughts of just how... _flexible_ Jack was.

Giving her head a sharp shake, she dove after Jack. Bad, bad timing.

 

Jack might not have had any idea about the courtship signals he was giving to Tooth, or that she was returning, but she was distracting enough without knowing that. 

He was doing his best to stay focused, search for fairy rings, even as Tooth swooped and glided over the air near him, eyes intent on the ground with the ferocity of the hawk she was, not the pretty tame bird other spirits thought she was.

For a minute he was distracted by the play of light over Tooth's feathers before giving himself a mental slap. _Focus, Jack,_ he scolded himself. It just wasn't fair that she could be that fierce and that pretty at the same time.

Jack swooped in close, features focused on the ground below as he forced his mind back to an earlier question. “Hey, Tooth,” he said, forcing himself to keep scanning the ground below instead of looking at her, which he'd much rather do, “I was curious – in that treaty, clause 458B sounded like Puck could leave Underhill whenever he wanted, but sub-clause 67C said no member of the Courts could leave without permission, so I was wondering...”

“Jack...did you memorize the treaty?” Tooth asked incredulously, twisting to stare at Jack.

He frosted over, scratching at the back of his head. “Um...maybe? Most of it? It seemed important if we're up against fae...and you guys did give me time...” he trailed off as she continued to stare at him.

She shook her head finally, laughing at them both a little. “I just didn't expect it, that's all.”

He turned on his back, making a face at her. “Excuse you. I may be snowballs and fun times, but that doesn't mean I can't be serious if I wanna be.”

She rolled her eyes, playing along, “Yes, you're so very serious. How could I ever have doubted it. Why, it's almost like you take things like fighting as seriously as we do, and never do things like, say, throw snowballs at your enemies.”

“Why, would I do that?” he protested, pressing a hand to his heart, eyes shimmering with mischief, disrupting his attempted at innocence. She giggled again, hovering over his prone form. 

“Yes,” she said firmly. Sighing, she remembered the whole point of being out here and fluttered away, scanning over the ground again. “As for your question – Puck counts as Protector of England, and banishing him Underhill would interfere with the magic in England. So he had to be free to come and go, despite the Court's permission clause. So, basically, he has permanent permission. Why?”

Jack shrugged. “I've seen Puck running around a couple times. I think they think I'm funny, so we might be able to ask them to drop a message for the courts if we see them.”

She matched his shrug with a grin. It was a good idea – if they found Puck while they were out, and could talk them into it. Puck was...well, Puck. 

He grinned back, somersaulting in the air to dart lower and resume the search, and Tooth eyed the sunlight glinting off his hair. One of her feathers would look amazing braided in, just at his temple, letting everyone know he was hers and to keep their hands off.

With a sigh, she followed him down. No time for thoughts like that right now – but she was going to have to tell him what was going on, and soon, or they were going to be stuck in this will-we-won't-we forever.

...possibly literally, considering their lifespans.

 

They took a detour by the Tooth Palace when they'd finished scanning their area so Tooth could check up on the baby teeth. The girls were grateful to see their mother – they may have had things in check so far, but they weren't used to taking over the whole operation for this long.

Tooth had dithered, but in the end Jack had agreed to go back to the Pole to report for both of them. She'd stay in the Tooth Palace and take over for a few hours, with a group of baby teeth who were going onto their rest swearing to let her know when it was time to go join Jack at the Pole as Baby Tooth snuggled into Jack's hood, more than ready for a break.

Neither of them were happy about going out alone, with the faerie circles out there and the dark spirits definitely out and about, but the girls needed her to take over for awhile.

Jack was pretty sure he made a new speed record for the trip from Punjam Hy Loo to the Pole. On the one hand, the fae hadn't threatened any of them yet, and they weren't even sure if they were the cause of the dark spirits or if they were even out from Underhill again yet.

On the other...Jack _had_ basically taunted them, and made it clear he was a Guardian and possible prize. Suddenly, being alone was even less appealing than it had been during the loneliest of his years alone.

As it was, he was at the Pole being plied with hot chocolate while Baby Tooth took her own treat to munch in his hood in record time, though he'd forever deny it was worry that made him rush. 

The other Guardians arrived after Jack had finished half his cocoa – he and Tooth being airborne made searching much faster, though Bunny's methods were probably more thorough. Sandy wasn't long after, despite being on his own. 

None of them had anything to report, though. 

“Is so frustrating!” North burst out, slamming his fist onto the arm of his chair. “We know they are there, have been bothering everyone all year!”

Sandy sent up a flurry of images, too fast for Jack to follow. “Could be, Sandy,” Bunny agreed. He took pity on Jack and translated, “Sandy thinks they're hiding until we slow down on the searches, probably figure we'll forget if they lay low long enough. Lesser fae aren't always good with long term planning.” Jack made a little oh of understanding and sketched a silent point on an invisible scorecard for Bunny, who grinned.

Then Bunny's face took on sudden, mischievous cast, and immediately Jack was on edge. That look, surprising as it was to see on Bunny, couldn't mean anything good.

"So...you and Tooth, eh mate?" he said teasingly.

Jack silently cursed the frost he could already feel forming across his cheeks. If Bunny had to change the subject, did it have to be to that?

"What are you talking about, kangaroo?" he asked, feigning ignorance and hoping they'd drop it.

No such luck. "Are good team, yes?" North asked, projecting innocence even as his eyes gave him away, twinkling with an unholy amount of mischief.

"We all are," Jack said defensively, and North conceded the point with a wave of his hand, eyes still brimming with teasing. 

"Still, is _special_ team between you and Tooth," North said. Jack groaned, slumping further into his special armchair until he resembled a ball. He could feel, more than hear, Baby Tooth trying to stifle her laughter.

"How'd you figure it out?" he groaned, mostly to his knees. "I thought I was hiding it so well!"

"What do you mean, hiding it?" North asked, Bunny's ears pricking forward and Sandy floating closer to hear Jack's answer.

He peeked out from his ball just enough to glare at the others. "Look, I know Tooth's way out of my league, okay? I'll just keep pretending it's nothing and everything'll be fine."

"What're you spouting now, Frostbite? You're a Guardian, and the Spirit of Winter, ain't ya? Nobody's 'out of your league',” Bunny retorted, ears flickering. "An' hadn't ya noticed Toothie courtin' ya?"

Jack went so still that the others weren't sure he was still breathing. Slowly, with little jerks, he turned his head to look at Bunny. "You...what?"

“Tooth. Is. Courting. You,” Bunny said, each word slow and distinct. “I thought ya knew, since you've been flirtin' back.”

“Well...I...that is...” Jack sputtered, and Bunny seemed torn between laughing and face palming, compromising by doing both.

“You do care for Tooth, Jack, yes? Are not leading her on?” North asked, suddenly serious. 

The look that crossed Jack's face at the question – a little nervous, a little dumbfounded, and a lot star struck – answered better than words, and North glanced over at Bunny with soft, laughing eyes. Baby Tooth, meanwhile, cooed and rubbed her tiny head against Jack's cheek, making him laugh and blush harder.

“Perhaps would like to know more about Sisters of Flight courting, so you can reciprocate or deny properly?” North suggested. 

If Jack's immediate and enthusiastic response reminded all the older Guardians of a puppy, well, none of them were going to mention it. 

 

Tooth arrived several hours later, as promised.

Jack had already sworn the others to secrecy – he wanted to be the one to let Tooth know how he felt, when he started trying to reciprocate the courting, to let him go slow in case they'd misread everything and she wasn't actually courting but instead trying to show a different kind of affection.

Three hundred years alone could make you a little hesitant about believing someone could be interested in you, especially in that way, so the others had agreed, if a little reluctantly. 

Actually, when Tooth arrived, it took her a few minutes to find the boys. In the end, she followed the sound of shouting and laughter to discover them in one of the lower training halls.

When she did finally see them, she had to stop and stare. She had no idea what they were doing, but it certainly looked fun...if confusing. 

There were at least three balls, if not more, and it looked almost like some strange combination of tag, soccer, and dodge ball as the foursome slipped, ran, and tackled each other around the room.

She had no idea who was winning, what the purpose was, or what it was called. All she cared about at that moment was that the boys were laughing. Baby Tooth, far enough in the air to be out of the way of stray balls, was dashing about, her bright, chittering laughter a tinkling counterpart to the boys.

North and Sandy were easy to make laugh, though for Sandy to be vocally laughing, a soft sound on the edge of hearing like a chiming of music boxes, was a joy and surprise all in itself.

But...Bunny was laughing. Bunny, who she hadn't heard laugh, properly laugh, since the day she'd met him, was laughing as freely as Jack, who was near glowing with fun and joy. 

She perched on the rail around the training area they'd claimed, content to just watch and listen. Besides, it was no great hardship to watch Jack as he darted about the playing field, strong and lithe and putting on a lovely show for her without realizing it, the kind she could watch all day.

She was starting to suspect it was a Pookan game, since Bunny seemed to be the only one who truly knew all the rules.

They had to teach her how to play later. For now, she'd let them have their break. They'd all earned it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, they had to use a cluebat, but Jack got one. Finally. Now to deal with those issues of his...he and Tooth being clueless was so cute, I didn't want it to end – actually, I hadn't planned for it to happen at this point, but in a later scene that's half written. Since it was re-write this chapter or that scene...look, Jack got a clue!  
> And yes, it's a Pookan game the boys are playing, which is why Bunny is enjoying it so much. Never thought he'd get to play it again, after all.


	30. Stand My Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I just know there's no escape now_   
> _Once it sets its eyes on you_   
> _But I won't run,_   
> _Have to stare it in the eye_
> 
> _Stand my ground, I won't give in_   
> _No more denying, I've got to face it_   
> _Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside_   
> _If I don't make it, someone else will_   
> _Stand my ground_   
> _\- Within Temptation, Stand My Ground,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PIPfmHOJhg)_

Tooth blinked, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again, but the scene before her remained the same.

The game before had been one thing, but this...

A sheet of plastic lay on the floor while North sat to the side, manning some kind of spinner, and the other three twisted around each other with their hands and feet firmly planted on colored dots. Bunny crouched over Jack, his leg stretched under the winter spirit's stomach, who in his turn was stretched over the board, back arched and – though he didn't know it – backside displayed in almost irresistible invitation.

Sandy, under both and at a clear disadvantage with his shorter arms and legs, was laughing too hard to stay in the game much longer.

Resisting the temptation that Jack's position gave her (but only just, and with a silent reminder of both audience and lack of permission to keep her strong), Tooth settled next to North, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as he continued to spin and call out position and color combinations. She'd like to accuse them of wasting time, of not taking the threat of the fae seriously, but they were working just as hard as she was to find them...when they weren't doing silly games and challenges like this one.

Actually, given the sidelong glances and amused, fond smiles the other three Guardians were giving her and Jack, she was pretty sure they not only were doing these games to blow off steam, let Jack feel like one of them, but because they knew she was courting Jack, and that these games she'd caught them at were their contribution – the contests to prove Jack's seriousness about this. 

If it was, then she expected a few to come her way fairly soon, to prove she was serious about Jack. She was rather looking forward to it, really. 

The only thing spoiling it was her wonder if Jack knew what was going on, or if he just thought they were playing for the fun of it. 

Then again...there were those snowdrops left in her palace, in an icy vase that had yet to melt...true, the flower language was more Bunny's thing, not something she had grown up with, but...on one of their flights Jack had admitted to liking the frail little flowers, and they were the ones she and the other Guardians associated with Jack...and giving flowers would be something he would do for courting...

A yeti stormed into the room, yelling frantically, shocking Tooth out of her thoughts and surprising Bunny and Jack into collapsing. Sandy darted out from under them with surprising speed for someone who spent most of his time sleeping, silently laughing. 

“Aw, c'mon! We were so close!” Jack protested. “Ugh, Bunny, you're heavier than you look, get off.”

“Solid muscle, Frostbite,” Bunny shot back, grinning as he levered off the smaller spirit slowly before dropping back down, starting yet another brotherly squabble.

The yeti ignored their wrangling, still jabbering away at North rapid-fire, too fast for anyone who didn't hear Yeti on a daily basis to follow. North was irritated at first at the interruption of the game, an irritation that switched quickly to anger and action.

“Children going missing!” he exclaimed, dropping the spinner as he stood in a rush, striding towards the door. “All from same town. Yeti investigated, say it stinks of fae!”

Bunny leapt to his feet, freeing Jack, following after the disappearing North at a run. Tooth followed after, Sandy close at her heels.

Jack split off to whisper something to the yeti who'd brought the news, who nodded and rushed off, catching up to them as they rushed toward the sleigh bay with a bundle that he passed to Jack.

Tooth was quietly furious, hands clenching in a silent wish for her sabers – quiet because she knew it frightened her enemies more than yelling, and if she started yelling she may never stop. The treaty was to keep things like this from happening!

“The sleigh again, mate?” Bunny complained mildly, the old argument good at distracting nerves from the battle ahead. Jack bumped his shoulder gently against Tooth's, distracting her from the byplay in front of them.

She glanced down at him and he cautiously offered her the bundle the yeti had passed to him. “North mentioned you used to use swords,” he said quietly, so as not to distract the others, who were getting their destination from the yetis who had discovered the problem, “and that you kept an extra set here, so I asked Sasha to grab them for you. Thought you might need them when we get there.”

Tooth found herself staring blankly at Jack for precious seconds before rapidly unwrapping the bundle. Inside, just as he'd said, where her spare sabers, that she'd kept at the Pole for emergencies, along with the sword belt they hung from.

She gave Jack a feral grin that he returned, just as feral as she. Oh, but she'd chosen a good one for a mate!

Still grinning, she slung the belt around her waist, feeling her blood rise at the familiar/unfamiliar feel of the leather around her waist. It had been far too long since she'd allowed herself the use of live steel in battle, settling for her wings for years.

If the look on Jack's face was anything to go by, her sudden bloodthirsty grin and expert checking of her weaponry did nothing to deter how he felt for her, if he cared for her the way she did him. If anything, he looked more impressed than when she used just fists or wings, ready to stand by her side in battle the way a proper mate should.

They leapt into the sleigh, the contraption jolting into motion almost before they were inside, North in too much of a rush to wait for them to settle before taking off. He only waited long enough for the sleigh to be airborne and steady before calling out their destination, throwing the snowglobe in a rush of light and color.

 

Jack didn't recognize the village they appeared over – it was tiny, and he assumed it was somewhere in Europe. The fae they were after tended to stay in Europe, since the other areas tended to have their own native spirits that didn't take well to the fae infringing on their territory. Not that the fae didn't – they were too powerful not to try, and too arrogant to believe they didn't have the right to go where they wanted – but right now, with them having to know the Guardians were looking for them, there was no way they were anywhere but Europe, where their powers were the strongest.

They circled over the village all eyes trained to the ground, seeking out faerie circles or children. 

“Down there,” Tooth cried, pointing with a saber. North swung the sleigh around, fast enough to make Bunny curse, shooting toward the ground.

They hit the ground with a thud, and Bunny's arm shot out to stop Jack from leaping from the sleigh as soon as it landed. Jack whipped his head around, about to snap at Bunny, pausing as he watched Bunny's ears twitch, his nose wrinkling as he took in the clearing.

The clearing was disturbingly quiet – not a bird, not an insect made a noise, the breeze just barely making the leaves rustle against each other, eerily still. 

“I smell fae everywhere,” Bunny said softly, “an' kids, an' it's still fresh.”

There were giggles from the trees, the bushes, childlike but too high, cloyingly sweet, like the sound of a tingling sweetness of a played wineglass. 

The Guardians were instantly on high alert, weapons at the ready, scanning for any hint of fae or child as the whispers began, echoing and disturbing, drifting out from the trees and brush all around the Guardians.

“Did you come to play, Guardians?”

“Look, he's just as pretty as they said!”

“ _We_ want to play with _you_.”

“Come dance with us!”

“We won't harm you, pretty little winter spirit!”

“So pretty!”

“I want to pet him! His hair looks so soft...”

“We'll take _good_ care of _you_...”

“Okay, consider me thoroughly creeped out,” Jack muttered, and Tooth managed a quick laugh despite her rising anger.

“Where are children?” North roared, cutting over the whispers.

“So _rude_...”

“Maybe we could trade?” one suggested, from high in the branches.

“No! I want the children!” another protested angrily.

“But a _winter spirit_...”

“But the children are so small...”

“So _young_...”

“So _sweet_...”

“Why should we give them back?”

“You're breaking the treaty,” Bunny snarled, paws tight on his boomerangs. Just give him a target, just one!

Jack shook his head, wincing. He could hear music, so faint he could barely hear it, but it was there, and it wouldn't stop! Giving his head another shake, he forced himself to ignore it, glaring at the trees around them. 

Tooth saw Jack shaking his head out of the corner of her eye, inching closer to him in concern. “What is it?” she hissed, just this side of audible.

“Music – can just hear it,” he hissed back, Bunny flicking an ear to indicate he heard them. “Anyone else hearing it?”

A round of denials met the quiet question, and Jack stiffened even as Tooth quietly cursed. Bunny reached over and pulled Jack closer carefully, putting him close enough to protect. The fae didn't get him before, so now they were deliberately targeting Jack. It was a gamble if they could make music powerful enough to enchant Jack, powerful as he was and with all of them aware the fae were trying it, but none of them wanted to take that chance.

A bit of shuffling put Jack in the center of the sleigh, where he'd have to fly to get past them if the music grew strong enough to draw him away from them.

There was a scuffle on the edge of the clearing, the sound of fae moving back as hoof beats thudded on the soft earth. Bunny kept his attention of the edges of the clearing, still thrumming with tension, as the others turned to face the new threat.

The huge black horse nearly blended into the shadows under the trees, its glowing yellow eyes the only thing clearly visible about it. The rider on its back was just as difficult to see, clad head to toe in flowing black. Their hair, flowing down their back, was as black as their clothing, and their face was masked.

“Knight of the Unseelie Court,” Tooth hissed under her breath to a confused Jack, who tightened his grip on his staff. 

The Knight raised his hands, arms going into a familiar position, and Jack barely had time to yell, “Look out!” before the Knight fired, a blast of energy shooting through the group.

The Guardians scattered about the sleigh, hitting the ground hard as they lunged out of the way of the energy blast. They tried to regroup even as more energy arrows slammed into the ground between them, scattering them further apart.

At that point, the smaller fae poured out of the woods, converging on the scattered Guardians, forcing them farther into the trees.

Tooth spun, her sabers flashing, keeping the fae at a respectful distance. She couldn't see the others, but she could hear them. She forced her way toward their voices, separate from each other but coming closer as they copied her, trying to regroup.

She saw Jack, further away than the rest, his frost lightening lighting up the woods around him as he tried to keep the fae away. Angling her attack, she began to work her way towards him, and the others followed her lead, inching closer to where Jack was surrounded.

Another bright flash of frost lightning around Jack, and the rest of his attackers fled, those that weren't already frozen solid. 

The fae blocking the path of the other Guardians melted into the woods as if hearing some call, as if they'd never been there at all.

He glanced up, and their eyes met. He grinned and took a step towards Tooth. Even as he did, a black blur bore down on him, a strong arm latching around his stomach and hauling him onto horseback even as he cried out in shock, reaching for Tooth.

She screamed his name, Jack and the Black Knight that had grabbed him disappearing from sight before she could finish the word, leaving nothing but the echoes of hoof beats behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so...apparently I can't even write fluff without doing something like this. I know, I did something similar earlier, but...I'd been planning something like this since the beginning.


	31. This Is War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie,_   
> _The moment to live and the moment to die,_   
> _The moment to fight, the moment to fight_   
> _To fight, to fight, to fight!_
> 
> _To the right, To the left_   
> _We will fight to the death!_   
> _To the edge of the earth_   
> _It's a brave new world_   
> _From the last to the first_   
> _\- 30 Seconds to Mars, This is War,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMAVLXk9QWA)_

The fae had disappeared along with the Knight and Jack. Bunny had searched the area with a fine toothed comb, sniffing every inch of the ground, uncaring how animalistic it looked. 

Tooth and North were tearing up the ground behind Bunny, searching for any trace of Knight or Fae, even the slightest hint of an opening into Underhill that they must have used to disappear so quickly.

Sandy probed at the ground with his sand, but it continued to be unyielding soil, not a trace of gate to be found.

Eventually Bunny gave an frustrated growl, sitting back on his haunches. “There's no scent anywhere anymore,” he snarled, and anyone who had once known the proud, emotionless Pooka wouldn't be able to see even a passing resemblance to him in this angry creature. “It doesn't even have the decency to stop so we know where the bloody gate was, it just fades away!”

Tooth loosed a screech of rage, saber leaving deep gashes in the tree before her as she allowed herself a moment of anger. This...this was when her fairies had been taken, multiplied. When her girls had been taken, she'd still been connected to them, could feel that they were all right, if frightened. This...she had no idea where Jack was, if he was okay...

It would have been different if they'd been mated, but no, she had to do things properly, and now Jack was lost and she had no connection to trace him with!

North was pacing beside her, Sandy's sand curling into what had to be his version of cursing. She'd certainly never seen it before, but it looked eloquent.

Still furious, Tooth forced herself to shove the anger to the side and concentrate. She caught her fellow Guardians' eyes and saw the same resolve there that she felt. Letting anger dictate their actions had almost lost them Jack once, back on the Easter of '12 – they weren't going to let it happen again.

“No more time for cursing,” North growled, sheathing his blades reluctantly. “How do we get Jack back?”

“We gotta find a way into Underhill,” Bunny said, standing and beginning to pace. “They're locked up tight, but they ain't just gonna toss Jack back out...but how?”

“Puck!” Tooth exclaimed. The others turned to her with near identical confusion painted across their faces as she fluttered back toward the sleigh in a rush, hurrying to catch up. “Jack said Puck likes him – thinks he's funny. That's pretty close to being friends, for a fae. Puck might care about the treaty being broken, and more that it's Jack they took along with the kids.”

They piled into the sleigh and North snatched up the reins. “To the Pole!” he declared. 

Tooth had a brief moment of wanting to protest – they needed to go to England, to try and get Puck's attention, and she needed to assemble her fairies – but swallowed them. Despite it's inconvenient location in the frozen north, the Pole had the best facilities for calling for aid and preparing for war.

 

Jack groaned, gritting his teeth against a wave of dizziness as he cracked his eyes open, slamming them shut against the light again as soon as they'd opened. One second he'd been fighting, the fae falling back, and then there was an arm around his waist and a burst of light...and now he was waking up somewhere he didn't recognize.

His hand tightened reflexively on his staff, and some part of him relaxed a fraction. At least he still had that.

So...he suspected that arm had belonged to the Knight...he vaguely remembered hearing hoof beats just before being snatched, so that made sense. But if the Knight was the one responsible...

Jack swallowed nervously and cracked his eyes open again, trying to see without being obvious. If the Knight took him, then...this was Underhill, it had to be. He'd been taken, just like the kids!

The kids...if he was Underhill...maybe he could find them! For some reason he wasn't bespelled, and while he didn't know why they hadn't tried to glamour him yet, he could just be grateful for the smallest of things right now.

Deciding he couldn't take lying there waiting for anyone else in the room to do something any longer, Jack sat up in a rush, bringing his staff into fighting position in a flash.

He was alone. Unsure if that was a good or bad thing, Jack looked around the room suspiciously, eyes narrowed and grip never slacking on his staff.

The room he was in looked spacious and luxurious, but he didn't trust it. This was Underhill, after all, and while he may have never have been here before, he'd heard stories from both humans and Puck enough to know things were rarely as they seemed while in the fae realm.

If they were trying to impress Jack, it failed. This was...overdone. Gilded heavily in silver, not a single surface was left blank, every inch crowded with decoration, gaudy and claustrophobic and overdone.

He couldn't decide if he was insulted, amused, or creeped out when he realized that the gilding was stylized frost and snowflakes against various shades of blue.

Creeped out won, and Jack inched his way off the divan he'd been laying on. He was still dizzy, just a little, probably from the sudden plunge Underhill, but he ignored it. 

He stumbled toward the door before pausing. The stories of Underhill said that the fae who inhabited it had complete control over it, and those who wandered around in it without a guide might never come out.

He was still debating what he should do when the door cracked open, one of the smaller fae slipping in, and he caught a glance of trolls outside the door they left open.

“Oh good, you're awake,” they said, giving him a once over. “The Queen wants to see you. Now.”

 

It was taking all of Tooth's control not to dart around the globe room like a caged bird. She had to save her energy for when they found a way into Underhill, she knew that...but it didn't keep the need to move, to do _something_ , under control.

She'd pulled a squad of fairies off tooth duty, their sisters making up the difference as the group scoured England alongside a squad of North's yeti. If nothing else, they were hoping to kick off enough noise to catch Puck's attention. 

None of them knew what they would do if they couldn't get Puck's cooperation. 

Behind Tooth, North was trying to get Manny's attention – which had been much easier at the Lunar Lamidary, but they didn't have time to travel there and try to convince the Lunar Lamas that it was an emergency. 

Not that Manny could do much, from the moon and with limited communication that only worked sporadically, but still.

Finally giving up, North joined the other three. Bunny was checking over the weapons he had on him and accepting more from the yeti who had gone into the stores, almost obsessively checking and rechecking each. 

“Will take too long for other spirits on treaty to get here,” North growled, checking his own sabers. “Yeti will let them know treaty has been broken, will have to re-negotiate after all is over.”

“Good luck finding a neutral party for that,” a voice said from the doorway, causing four heads to snap around to look as Puck stepped into the light. They examined their nails, leaning against a support beam idly.

Today they had apparently not been in the middle of a prank, as their clothing would have marked them as something otherworldly or strange to humans, with their antique tunic and pants older than Jack's and the vines woven through their fire red hair giving them away.

“Of course, if you get someone from each side to negotiate, then that would be considered even, I suppose,” they continued, striding into the room. “Though if you want some fun and one they can't wiggle out of, you should really give that to tricksters...like myself and Jack, for example. Is that the whole reason your helpers got me here? They seemed too upset for something this simple.”

“Wish it were so simple,” North grunted.

“A pack of fae kidnapped at least a dozen children,” Tooth cut in, not patient enough for the usual games Puck and North liked to play – Puck more than anyone else. “And when we went to investigate, a Knight of the Unseleighe Court kidnapped Jack.”

Puck's eyes went wide, and for once Tooth was sure they weren't faking their shock. “They did _what?_ ”

The elves shrieked and scattered, the yeti still around taking cover at the unholy shriek of Puck's voice. Gone was the carefree trickster – in their place stood a warrior with teeth bared, hair snapping in an unfelt wind.

“I don't have many friends,” they said quietly, “but I defend those I have. Besides,” they added, the wind dying down as they visibly forced themselves to calm, “Jack owes me a dance. Maybe I can get it at your wedding,” they said with a wink at Tooth. Sobering again, they strode toward North. “The easiest opening to Underhill for me to open is in England. How fast can your sleigh get there?”

“I travel whole world in one night, how fast do you think it can get there?” North answered, striding towards the sleigh dock yet again.

Puck nodded, keeping pace with the larger spirit easily. “Good. If it was a Knight that took Jack, that means the Queen is involved, and that's never good news.”

The Guardians exchanged grim looks at that news, covering their panic. If the Unseighlie _Queen_ was behind this, was the one breaking the treaty...they may have far, far more trouble than they'd anticipated.

“I'll get you Underhill, and let some friends of mine start spreading the word, if...” Puck trailed off, glancing at the Guardians for confirmation.

“This is more than breaking the treaty,” Tooth said before the others could speak, eyes blazing. “This means _war._ ”

 

Jack kept a tight grip on his staff, watching around himself warily as the fae that had come to fetch him led him down the hallway. Unlike the room he'd woken in, it was little more than a rough tunnel scratched in the dirt, though tall enough the trolls flanking Jack didn't brush the ceiling.

He hated to admit it, but he was completely lost. They'd taken too many turns, and everything down here looked the same to him. Put him in the skies, and Jack could find his way anywhere, but underground...he suppressed a shudder. It felt like the walls were trying to close in on him, keep him trapped and immobile.

Just before Jack could begin to panic the hallway ended at gilded doors, taller than should have been possible, and he found himself shoved through, the door closing behind him solidly.

Swallowing hard against the fear trying to climb up his throat and choke him, Jack stepped further into the hall beyond the door, his feet silent against the gleaming marble floor.

He thought his heart would stop when a voice came from the far side of the room, curtained in red velvet and dark shadows. 

“Come closer, Jack Frost,” the voice said, low and sultry, soft velvet warmed in front of a fire given sound. Glowing eyes watched him from inside the shadows and Jack fought the instant urge to run.

“Hello, Jack Frost,” said Queen Maeve. “Welcome to Underhill.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The Luna Lamadary is from the books – a group dedicated to the Man in the Moon, who have a method of communicating with him. They're difficult to get to agree to use it, and it takes a long time for them to agree to do anything – and they can't be rushed.


	32. Dance With the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Say goodbye,_   
> _as we dance with the devil tonight._   
> _Don't you dare look at him in the eye,_   
> _as we dance with the devil tonight?_
> 
> _Trembling, crawling across my skin._   
> _Feeling your cold dead eyes,_   
> _stealing the life of mine._
> 
> _I believe in you,_   
> _I can show you that I can see_   
> _right through all your empty lies._
> 
> _I won't last long, in this world so wrong._   
> _\- Dance with the Devil, Breaking Benjamin,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMSkC2PGyTs)_

The sleigh burst out of empty sky above an empty field in England, circling the air above as Puck scrutinized the ground for fae traps.

North took them in to land when Puck gave him the all clear, coming to a sedate stop in the grass. Puck floated out of the sleigh, landing on the grass delicately, almost daintily, despite the anger that still crackled around them in a near visible cloud. 

They looked around sharply before gesturing for the Guardians to follow them. Tooth's hands refused to leave her sabers, clutching them spasmodically as she fluttered behind North and Puck as the pair lead the group toward a barrow, heads together as they argued before Puck rushed forward, inspecting the barrow. 

Puck stopped them with an upraised hand before the Guardians could get closer, ushering the four into a tighter cluster as they debated. Coming to a decision, they faced the group, directing their comments mostly towards Tooth.

“Since it was an Unseleighe Knight that took Jack, he's going to be in Unseleighe territory. Technically I'm allied with the Selieghe court, so I can't send you directly to him. Underhill can be tricky, and it's easy to get lost in there, and be there for longer outside than in.” Puck heaved a sigh. “If we had anything connected to Jack, it would make things easier, but we'll have to make do.”

They fished a small globe out of a pouch and held it up so everyone could see it. “Pass this around among yourselves, and think of Jack when you hold it. When it turns blue, it's ready, and it should lead you to Jack. I'll try and land us as close to him as I can...unless there's another job you need me to do, rather than come along?”

“Having you come with us into Unseleighe court will bring war between courts,” North said, watching as Sandy concentrated on the globe on his hands, the smoke inside taking on a blue tinge. “We want to have quick rescue mission, in and out as fast as possible, before deciding what to do. Could declare war on Unseleighe court for this, but...we need to avoid that if we can. Avoid bringing Selieghe court in for as long as we can – if they start war before we get Jack out, might never find him.”

“Spread the word about what's happened, to those who should know,” Tooth ordered, impatiently waiting for her turn with the globe. “That's some of the more powerful spirits, anyone you think could help, or anyone who needs to get out of the way if things go to worst and we do end up at war.”

“If we ain't back out in a few hours, do whatever ya think ya need ta do,” Bunny said, passing the globe on to Tooth. 

Tooth took the globe in both hands, Puck and the others' conversation fading into the background as she concentrated on Jack. His strong hands, gentle on her waist during that one magical dance, the way he looked at her when he thought she couldn't see him, the way he treated her girls, a flash of a grin...the globe in her hands lit up, a soft blue the shade of Jack's eyes.

“There, it's all ready,” Puck announced. They traced a circle in the air, and it glowed gold before the center whited out, turning swiftly into a swirl of color like one of North's portal's. “Feel's like it's close to the Queen's hall – best be careful in there. Bring Jack back quick, and let's all hope Queen Maeve hasn't gotten her claws in him yet. Best of luck.”

Gripping the globe tightly and feeling the weight of her sabers at her waist, Tooth gave Puck a grateful nod before following the other three Guardians through the portal, stepping deep into Underhill.

 

Jack gripped his staff tightly, watching warily as the Queen of the Unseleighe rose, stepping down from her throne to approach him, feeling the glamour pouring off her, trying to entrap him, just on the edges of his senses, like a buzz just on the edge of hearing, one felt more than heard.

He swallowed hard, not sure how to handle this. On the one hand, Queen and Fae, super powerful – and he was in her realm. On the other, she – or her Knight, so it counted as the same thing – had kidnapped him, dragged him down here, and there were kids down here, somewhere.

That knowledge decided it for him, Guardian instincts to the fore. He had to find the kids and get them out of here!

“Why are you breaking the treaty?” he asked bluntly, eyes fixed on Maeve.

She paused, looking at him with eyes a touch to wrong, too alien to pass as human. “Whatever do you mean?”

“The children,” Jack said, barely keeping himself from growling it. “A group of your fairies and one of your Knights took a group of them before grabbing me.”

“Hm. That is...unfortunate,” she purred, seemingly unconcerned. She strode towards Jack again, hips swaying.

He froze, suddenly feeling very much like prey in the presence of a much, much larger predator.

Slowly she circled Jack, who didn’t dare move so much as his head, even to follow her. That would be weakness, in her eyes at least. 

He nearly jumped out of his skin when she trailed a perfect, shining nail across his shoulders and down his arms. 

“No bad,” she purred. “You’re rather handsome, all told. All you need is a little feeding.”

“I’ll pass, thanks,” he said dryly, trying to keep himself calm. Even he knew that to eat the food in the fae realm was to tie yourself to it, and while he wasn’t sure that counted for spirits, he wasn’t about to take that chance. 

The fae queen chuckled, returning to her throne. “So, little winter spirit, so strong in your element, you want a favor from me – the return of these children you claim we stole. What are you prepared to offer me in return? No fae, be they Selieghe or Unseleighe, does anything simply because they were asked.”

“Aww, really?” Jack leaned on his staff, trying the innocent look. Being blunt wasn't working, so maybe he'd try playing along until he got a better idea for getting all of them out of there. “Not even if I ask really nicely?”

“You’re cute,” Maeve said indulgently. She gestured imperiously for Jack to come closer. He hesitated before taking those few steps. Fae, especially fae as powerful as Maeve, were tricky – and he was in her domain, where she was strongest.

She cupped his chin, tilting his head from side to side contemplatively as he fought back a shudder at the contact. “Stay,” she said abruptly. He blinked, gaping up at her in blank shock. She smiled, regal and suddenly covetous. “Be my child, or my consort. I give you that choice. I will see the children returned to their homes in return for that.”

Jack kept staring up at her, unable to form a coherent sentence. Be…her _consort_?! He was courting _Tooth_! And she was courting him! Okay, so she hadn't _said_ so in so many words, and he hadn't either, but still...

He pulled away, stumbling over his feet as he fought to put distance between them. “H–hey, that's a little sudden, don'tcha think?” he stammered, trying for a touch of humor. _Let's not make the scary fairy queen mad, Jack_ , he thought, mind racing as he tried to think of anything he could try to get out of this.

Maeve chuckled, making an idle gesture with her hand, and Jack froze in place, feet glued to the floor by her magic. “It's the deal I'm offering,” she said mildly, still smiling, a cat's secretive curve of lips as it played with a mouse. “You aren't like to get a better one, and I'm the only one who knows where you are.”

“Well...what about...a dance?” Jack said, struck with sudden inspiration. Maeve tilted her head, interested though still teasing.

“I had heard rumors of your dancing,” she mused, still watching Jack avidly. “But why should I bargain children for dances when I can have both, after you agree to stay?”

Oh please _please_ let him be on the right track with this... “But bespelled dancing's nothing like willing dancing,” Jack answered. “I can't stay, no matter how...appealing it may be.” About as appealing as eating the eggs that hide each year from Bunny and go rotten in various corners of the Warren, but no need to let _her_ know that. “I have...duties Overhill I can't just leave.” Duties and Tooth, but again, no need to let Maeve know what he was thinking.

“And you think I should accept this deal for the children, when I could have you as mine? Do you really rate your dance that highly? What would you then pay for your own freedom?”

Jack smirked, a challenging dare, and shouldered his staff, holding out his free hand. “Why not accept my deal and find out?”

 

The part of Underhill the Guardians landed in was dark and cold, with water dripping down bare rock and echoing tunnels leading out from all sides. 

The foursome turned in place, eying all the tunnel openings warily. “Thought Underhill was supposed to be fancy?” North said uncertainly.

“Only when they want it ta be,” Bunny answered shortly. “Got a bit 'o a mind of its own, Underhill does.”

Tooth looked down at the globe in her hands, clutching it tighter. “At least we have some kind of direction...” she murmured. Carefully she fluttered toward one of the tunnels, watching the globe intently. Its glow dimmed as she approached the tunnel entrance, so she moved on to the next. The other Guardians moved to cover her back as she swept over the tunnels one by one.

They were beginning to wonder if Puck's globe didn't work the way they'd hoped, or if they'd set the Guardians down too far from Jack, that Underhill was interfering with them, when the globe brightened at the next to last tunnel. 

The four shared feral grins, stepping into the tunnel eagerly. 

 

The tunnel they'd chosen dipped and curved, but the light from the globe didn't falter. Several time Tooth had been ready to turn back, but the globe gave her strength, trusting in Puck's magic to lead her to Jack.

They turned another curve and stopped, nearly piling onto each other. A few feet down the tunnel, standing before a pair of massive, carved, and gilded doors, stood the very Knight that had stolen Jack.

They stood, feet wide, sword tip planted in the soil in front of them, watching the Guardians through the featureless mask covering their features.

Suddenly enraged, Tooth thrust the globe back at North, unsheathing one of her own sabers at the same moment. “Stay back,” she hissed at the dumbstruck men.

She unsheathed the second saber as she flew to attack, and it was only elven speed that let the Knight block her first strike. But not even a fae could block two swords at once, and Tooth was ambidextrous enough to pull off a double attack.

Eying her warily, the Knight staggered back, bleeding sluggishly from the slash she'd managed to deal to their arm. They circled each other, Tooth hovering and the Knight stepping lightly, both watching for the other's next move.

“You stole Jack,” Tooth hissed.

She got the impression of a fleeting smile. “A Gift for the Queen.”

And there went any mercy Tooth had felt like dealing. Gift for the Queen, indeed! Who knew what that...that fae could be doing while this Knight delayed them! “Then the treaty says I have every right for what I'm about to do,” she said, hefting her sabers. She smiled, and she knew it wasn't a nice smile, and was fairly sure she heard the Knight gulp. 

Her sabers flashed in the dim light as she raised them, screeching a war cry as she dove for the attack.

 

Time passed strangely in Underhill. Jack knew that, but it didn't help – he kept wondering just how long he'd been down here, and hoping against hope that decades hadn't already passed outside. 

He could almost see Maeve doing that on purpose – to force him back down Underhill in desperation, that those he'd loved had been forced to move on without him, and that he was back to being invisible and unbelieved in, his absence making the others unable to keep belief alive.

It had taken some verbal wrangling to get Maeve to admit that she knew where the children were, and more to admit a number – a round twelve – before she agreed to a dance per child. It wasn't the best bargain Jack could have made, and he was sorely regretting it, feeling the pull and burn of overworked muscles as they swept into the last dance, but it was that or accept Maeve's offer of being her child – or consort.

Yeah. Not gonna happen. Jack would dance until his feet bled before he gave in to that, and possibly after if he had to.

The dance finished, Maeve sat back on her throne in a swirl of fabrics, a small table twisting into existence at an idle gesture with one hand. She lifted a gem encrusted goblet to her lips, gracing the softly panting Jack a small smile.

“Something to drink, Jack? You must be so thirsty after all that dancing,” she offered, eyes gleaming with wholly artificial innocence as she offered the second goblet.

Oh, but it was tempting. His throat was dry, and he was tired, so very tired right now. But it wasn't worth the risk that, spirit or not, food or drink offered here could tie him here.

Especially not with Maeve's open desire to keep him here like some kind of exotic pet. She could call it child or consort all she wanted, he really doubted she actually wanted him as anything more than a pet.

He still hadn't come up with an escape plan for himself. He'd insisted on seeing each of the kids be delivered back to their homes, and to his surprise Maeve had complied.

He'd suspected they were changelings, not the real children, with how easily Maeve had accepted, but he'd checked each over before they'd gone through the portal, and each had been the real thing. It hadn't been likely, since fae were sticklers to their word, but still. He had to be sure.

But now...he was so damn tired right now, and Maeve was still watching him over the rim of her goblet. He stared back, still not sure what to do now. The kids were safe, but he was far, far from it, still trapped in _her_ realm, and out of ideas for just how to get out of here.

He tried to think of a plan, still watching Maeve's eyes for her next move. Every story he could recall of the fae taking a changeling or kidnapping an adult needed that adult to be rescued by someone else – preferably their true love.

Maeve's head snapped toward the double doors Jack had entered through earlier seconds before, as if summoned by Jack's thought of being rescued by his true love, the Guardians, lead by a furious Queen Toothiana, burst into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I managed to get a bit of a buffer going – enough that I can post two weeks in a row, the way I like to. :D 
> 
> Yeah, no one wants a Fae war – those get really messy, really fast, and there's no way to keep mortals from noticing that _something_ is going on – which just gets things messier.


	33. Faerie Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I tried to rise, but then my eyes alighted on a scene_   
> _Of faerie creatures dancing by, cavorting 'round their Queen_   
> _She'd been out hunting, it was plain, delighted by her prize_   
> _And though he was in thrall to her, I knew his gentle eyes_
> 
> _I stood again and shouted_  
>  _when they drew abreast of me,_  
>  _“I challenge you,_  
>  _for you have caught_  
>  _my husband-soon-to-be!”_
> 
> _They stopped and she stared down at me_   
> _the Queen upon her steed._   
> _“I see you have the courage, dear,_   
> _but skill is what you need.”_
> 
> _“We each shall play_   
> _and I will say_   
> _which fiddle is played best_   
> _and if you win_   
> _this mortal toy_   
> _I'll free without protest.”_
> 
> _They handed her a violin_   
> _as black as she was fae,_   
> _she placed a bow upon the strings_   
> _and then began to play_   
> _\- Faerie Queen, Heather Alexander,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbEwUTjKwLU)_

Maeve shot to her feet, and though she tried to cover her shock, managing with a grace only the fae could accomplish, they'd all seen that moment of surprise and dismay.

“You dare,” she snarled, otherworldly beauty twisting into something ugly and feral, hands curling into claws. “To enter my realm, uninvited and armed!”

“You dare!” Tooth shot back, feathers bristling and swords held close and ready, the others close behind her. “To take Jack, and the children!”

Maeve's eyes narrowed, a calculating grin curling the corner of her mouth. “So, Jack comes first, then then children, Guardian?” 

Tooth's eyes narrowed, glaring back at the fae queen. Jack tried to inch his way towards the others while Maeve was distracted, but his hopes were shot as her eyes shot to him, pinning him in place for the moment.

“The kids are safe,” he called out to the others instead, eying the distance between all of them cautiously. Maeve was standing between them right now, but off to the side...he just might have a clear shot to make it to them, if he timed it right.

“Jack...what did ya do?” Bunny called, and Jack could have brightened at the concern in his voice if he'd dared show weakness.

“Oh, we just made a deal,” Maeve answered before Jack could, inspecting her nails gloatingly as the Guardians paled. “It's no wonder you want him back so badly, Toothiana. He is quite...talented. I look forward to discovering more.”

“It was a dance for each child, and we finished before you got here,” Jack cut in, refusing to allow any other interpretation. “As for the rest...”

“Jack's leaving with us,” Tooth said firmly, not taking her eyes off Maeve. Oh, she wanted to, and badly, to check Jack over and be sure he was fine, but she knew better than to let a fae, let alone a fae queen, out of her sight.

“And why should he?” Maeve asked, swaying towards Jack even as he backed towards the Guardians, slowly, trying to keep from making any move that would make her react violently. “I can give you anything you want, Jack,” she crooned, invading his space even as he tried to back away, feeling her herding him away from his goal and trying to change that even as reached out to run a sharp nail down the front of his hoodie. “Attention, followers, subjects. Children to play with you, who'll never grow up and stop believing. Anything you can dream of, I can make yours.” She either ignored or didn't notice how Jack tried to lean away from her greedy fingers and invasion of his space, continuing in a voice that dropped into a seductive purr. “How perfect you would look, in white furs and silver crown, with sapphires to match your eyes. A proper Winter Prince to stand by a fae queen.”

“What is it with spirits trying to get me to join them?” Jack asked, humor and irritation heavy in his voice to cover the quick burst of fear, remembering that first invitation in Antarctica and dozens of hinted insinuations since then, all after he'd finally place he belonged. He backed away as he spoke, towards the other Guardians. “I'm a _Guardian_ , and I'm _going home_. Find yourself a different toy, like maybe a puppy.”

With an inhuman snarl at Jack's refusal, Maeve darted forward, hands flashing. With a deceptively soft chink of metal, a band of silver appeared around Jack's throat and he froze, staff falling from frozen hands.

“ _NO!_ ” Tooth screamed, hands outstretched towards Jack even as he stumbled, falling into Maeve's clutching hands.

Maeve dragged Jack close, twisting him in her arms until she held him pinned, his back to her chest, the collar forcing him into unwilling compliance. She stroked a possessive hand over Jack's hair, pressing her face into it as she spoke. “He really is quite pretty, isn't he? I can see why you wanted him. Still, too bad. Looks like he's staying with me now.”

Jack stood passive under her hands as they stroked down to his waist, offering no resistance to their roaming. Tooth clenched her teeth, hands balled with anger as she stared at the fae queen.

She searched Jack's face frantically, but it was blank and empty. Only his eyes gave away that he was still in there, terrified and disgusted, starting to glaze over as the magic stole him away.

“And such _power_ ,” Maeve murmured, the arm she'd wrapped around Jack's waist tightening, the other tracing the frost around the collar of his hoodie, ignoring the threatening male Guardians, all her attention on Jack and Tooth. “It's wasted on all of you, really.”

Unwilling to use their weapons for fear of hurting Jack even as she continued to croon over her prize, the Guardians hesitated, glancing between themselves as they tried to think of a plan.

Sandy floated higher, symbols flashing by overhead as he glared at Maeve sternly. 

She laughed, low and throaty, at whatever Sandy was telling her. “You should know better, Sandman. Once I've placed my collar on someone, spirit or human, I won't just take if off because someone demands I do so,” she mocked, laying her cheek on Jack's hair again, rubbing against the soft mass.

Tooth snapped. “Get your hands _off_ my intended!” she demanded, wings buzzing furiously as she fought the urge to try attacking the fae queen, knowing she would hurt Jack, bespelled as he was.

Maeve blinked blankly for a few moments before chuckling. “Your intended?” she questioned, running a hand over Jack's hair as though searching for something. “As I thought – he doesn't wear your feather, O Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies. You can claim him all you want, but your claim is less valid than mine at the moment. He's mine now.”

“We are _courting_ ,” Tooth countered through gritted teeth. The others stayed back as she fluttered closer to the pair, recognizing the situation for what it was – one they couldn't help with beyond being Tooth's backup. “Jack, keep fighting her! You can't give up!”

“You don't hear her, do you, my pretty one. You want to stay here, with me, as my little pet,” Maeve crooned, and it made Tooth nauseous just to hear her.

“Go on now, tell her,” the fae queen urged, releasing Jack nudge him forward a step. “Name your queen. Let her know who your heart belongs to.”

Forcing back tears, Tooth looked into Jack's eyes, willing him to fight, even as the other Guardians tensed behind her, ready to move at her command and do whatever they had to do to break the spell on Jack.

He faltered, the spell tethering him to Maeve strong, mouth opening and closing as he struggled to fight the spell binding him, and Tooth kept her eyes on his, trying to remember anything that could break the fae queen's spell.

“...Tooth...” Jack said, so quietly they weren't sure if he'd spoken, only sure he'd tried to say something.

“What was that, my little winter spirit? Say it loud, so we can all hear you,” Maeve demanded.

“T-Tooth,” Jack gasped. “ _Toothiana_.” 

He stumbled forward, away from Maeve, who clutched at him belatedly, in shock that her ages old spell had broken. Tooth was faster, clutching Jack's outstretched arms and pulling him away from the Unselighe queen and into her arms.

The collar shattered as her arms went around Jack, the magic fading away under her touch. Jack's arms latched around her waist and he pressed against her, hard enough she could feel him shaking, feel his breath panting, too fast and shallow and exhaling mist with each breath over her shoulder.

“She almost had me,” he whispered, holding onto Tooth as though she were the only real thing he was sure of. “She was so close, she almost had me, I couldn't...I could hear you, just you, so faintly I wasn't sure.”

Behind them, behind the wall the other Guardians had made between the pair and Maeve, Tooth heard Maeve make a sound of disgust.

“True love,” she said, as though she were talking about something disgusting the cat had left on the floor. “No wonder it didn't hold.”

Tooth pulled Jack a little closer, feeling him turn his head to nuzzle at her neck and breathe out a soft laugh, tickling and cold over her feathers.

“Guess that secret's out, huh?” he said quietly.

“I've been trying to court you for months,” Tooth admitted, just as quietly.

There was silence from him at that, before a soft, surprised, reverent “Oh,” was breathed. “The others said you were, but...”

She slipped her fingers under his chin, tilting his head up to look at her. His eyes were bright, shining and overflowing with pure, quiet joy and love. With a sudden rush of daring, she laid her lips on his, feeling him start with surprise before melting against her, returning the kiss just as gently and reverently as she'd begun it. 

Winding her fingers through hair just as cool and snow-soft as she'd imagined, Toothiana silently rejoiced. Courting was over, her mate won. 

They would fly far together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...yeah, you probably all saw this coming a mile away. True love: confirmed.


	34. Quando, Quando, Quando

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Tell me when will you be mine_   
> _Tell me quando quando quando_   
> _We can share a love divine_   
> _Please don't make me wait again_
> 
> _When will you say yes to me_  
>  _Tell me quando quando quando_  
>  _You mean happiness to me_  
>  _Oh my love please tell me when_  
>  _\- Michael Buble & Nelly Furtando, Quando, Quando, Quando, [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3r9fI8VsyI)_

Jack may have been freed, but that didn't mean everything was over. He and Tooth broke their kiss (reluctantly), when they heard the other Guardians begin to raise their voices, reminding them harshly of the reality of still being Underhill.

Tooth glanced over Jack's shoulder, feeling him twist in her arms to look at the standoff. Technically, the five of them combined should have the power to take Maeve down and drag her back to the Pole to face consequences for breaking the treaty, but it was a close thing.

Maeve, meanwhile, was claiming to the other Guardians that she wasn't the one behind the children's kidnappings, that she had merely taken advantage of her Knight's spur of the moment decision.

“...I mean, just _look_ at him, at that _power_. How could I possibly be expected to resist?” she argued.

“By rememberin' the _treaty_ and not breakin' it!” Bunny snapped, at the end of his patience. “There's gonna be consequences fer all this, and ya know it.”

Queen Maeve drew herself up, obviously offended, and was cut off by Tooth before she could get into her rant. “You broke the treaty. You broke your _word_.”

Maeve visibly winced at that. There were few rules for fae, but being bound to their word was one of them. To break that...even being a queen wouldn't save her from consequences. If her fairies really had done this without her permission, taking advantage of slacking protections and expecting no one to notice, then it may not be so bad – but to try and hold Jack, not just spirit but a major seasonal and a Guardian, in the midst of courting another major spirit and Guardian to boot...

Tooth watched Maeve's face as the fae queen worked her way through it all, still holding Jack close. He, for his part, didn't seem inclined to move just yet either, gently running his fingers over and through the feathers on the arm she had wrapped around his waist. 

...and there went any worries Tooth might have had that he didn't like her feathers.

“There is, perhaps, somewhere...neutral...where we could discuss this?” Maeve said finally. 

“Nowhere that is ready for this,” North said, cutting off her speculation. “And you were ones to break treaty. Pole is always ready.”

Maeve made a face at the mention of the Pole. “We're not really ready ta compromise on this,” Bunny cut in before she could complain. “Yer fae've been causin' problems fer way too long know, an' this's the last straw.”

Even though Maeve was still obviously offended at their treatment of her, she didn't protest when North opened a portal to the Pole. They couldn't use them to get into Underhill, since there were protections against going in and his portals needed the user to know where, exactly, they were going, but a portal out...that was another story.

North led the way through the portal, and Jack muffled laughter in Tooth's shoulder as they heard, faint over the sound of the portal, North already shouting orders to his yeti and demanding the elves get out from underboot. 

Bunny gestured for Maeve to go through the portal before him, and with a disdainful sniff and flick of her skirts, she did. Sandy rolled his eyes as Bunny followed, before looking over at Tooth and Jack and silently giggling. Sand hearts floated over his head and he fluttered sand lashes at the pair, who blushed and started untangling from each other.

“Watch it, little man. We don't tease you about Pitch,” Jack said, though his eyes were laughing. Tooth was still giggling at Sandy's overacted offense as Jack offered her his hand, floating through the portal hand in hand.

 

They stepped into chaos, the loud, peppermint and ice and wood shaving scented chaos of the workshop, loud and glorious after the deathly silence of Maeve's hall. Maeve herself was surrounded by yeti, who were eying the silently composed queen distrustfully.

North's elves were running about underfoot, just as expected, staring up at Maeve and darting underfoot to get a closer look before running away in a panic.

“These...creatures of yours are a disgrace to the term 'elf', St. North,” Maeve said coldly, glaring down at the elves. North waved her irritation off, chuckling at the elves' antics. Yes, they could be irritating, were always underfoot, and could destroy things with an ease Jack could envy, but they had their place – all of which didn't mean they didn't enjoy watching the elves irritate someone else for once.

North flipped switches and pressed buttons at the console of the globe and it lit up, light shooting up around it as though it were about to send out the aurora. Instead, the light split into a dozen smaller globes of light, dancing about each other before shooting off into the sky.

Nodding in satisfaction, North turned back to the others. “New trick,” he chuckled, gesturing at the globe. “Call Puck, and others. When they arrive, we discuss treaty – and consequences for breaking it. See what original treaty says. May take time, so make selves comfortable.”

With that, North turned to the yeti, helping them usher Maeve to a secure room she could wait in for the other spirits to arrive. Bunny and Sandy tagged after them, Sandy shooting Tooth and Jack a wink over his shoulder as they went.

Tooth grinned as Jack blushed before she tugged on their still entwined hands, pulling him off towards the family wing, where it was quieter.

The pair slipped into one of the many family rooms, Tooth closing the door tightly behind them and Jack leaning his staff on the wall beside it.

Almost reluctantly their hands parted, and Jack jumped up to perch on a chair as Tooth fluttered to sit on one across from it that had been designed with tails and wings in mind.

There was an awkward silence, broken only by the crackling of the magic fire in the fireplace. Not event the sounds of the workroom could penetrate this wing to ease the awkwardness of the moment.

“So...” Jack said softly, looking up at Tooth through his bangs. Screwing up his courage and taking it in both hands, briefly wishing he could put his hood up, he took a deep breath and said the first thing he thought of. “I didn't believe the others when they said you're courting me. You're...kinda out of my league.”

“My father was a slave before he met and wed my mother,” Tooth said firmly, fluttering off her chair to cup Jack's chin in her hands, feeling her heart flutter as his hands came up to curl around her wrists gently. He hummed softly, tilting his head into her hands and letting his eyes slip closed.

“So...I was trying to court you back,” he said, still soft. “But none of us were really sure what I was supposed to be doing, besides the contests...not sure why I had to do those, either.”

“Mmm...to show you were serious,” Tooth said, rubbing her nose against Jack's. “Winning doesn't matter, doing the competition does.” She laughed lightly, pulling back to tap Jack's forehead. “You've been courting me right back without even knowing it, before that.”

“I...I was?”

“Mmm,” Tooth hummed again, her hand wandering to Jack's hair, enjoying his laughter as she played with the soft white strands. “Dancing for me, with me, showing off in the air...you challenged me to races.”

Deciding that she'd talked enough for the moment, Tooth leaned in for a quick kiss. Jack followed as she retreated, and she giggled as he returned her kiss with interest. 

“It was all courting,” Tooth continued when they parted, “but I kept telling myself it didn't count, since you weren't aware it was.”

“Can I retroactively make it count?” Jack grinned. “Because I totally meant it that way, I just didn't know it counted that much.”

Tooth found herself laughing, wrapping her arms around Jack. He was chilly, but not cold like she'd half expected, a pleasant chill as he wrapped his arms around her in return, careful of her wings.

“Want to know the rest of Sister of Flight courtship?” she whispered in his ear, since it was right there. He murmured assent, nuzzling a little closer.

“We made it to the last challenge,” Tooth said, teasing with the edge of Jack's hood. “A rescue. Though it's supposed to be symbolic,” she said, leaning back a little to stare into the air thoughtfully. “Neither my mother or I managed to keep it symbolic...”

Jack laughed again, scratching the back of his head. “At least something good's coming out of this whole mess,” he said lightly. “Who knows what the others would have come up with if they knew one of us had to do that.”

“I don't even want to think about it,” Tooth agreed. She missed the mischievous glint in Jack's eyes as he leaned forward to kiss her again, since she was so close. Tooth giggled and closed her eyes, leaning forward into the kiss, teasing his mouth open to cautiously taste him, her heart suddenly so full it almost hurt, like she could fly without her wings.

There was excited chirping from the window, and they broke apart reluctantly to see Baby Tooth zipping in the window, followed by a few of her sisters.

Tooth laughed as her girls swarmed her, chittering questions rapid fire at their mother, a pair of them zipping between Tooth and Jack, cooing over his wide grin.

Laughing, Tooth held up her hands for her girls to land on. “Yes, yes girls, he knows now. I think we're technically engaged right now. We just didn't ask yet. We did finish all the stages of courtship,” she said almost apologetically to Jack, whose jaw had dropped at that particular announcement.

She was reassured when his grin returned, wider and dopier than earlier. “It's okay, it's...it's great, actually,” he said, laughing. “It just hit me, that's all.” He held up a hand for Baby Tooth, who landed in it, chittering happily up at him. Suddenly he went still as only a winter spirit could, staring down at Baby Tooth and her sisters, who stared back at him with huge, worried eyes. 

“Um...Tooth? Just...just what _are_ the baby teeth, to you? I mean...well...”

A bit startled by the question, Tooth hesitated, dipping in the air as she thought. “Well...I suppose you'd say they're my children. Why do you...oh. _Oh,_ ” she breathed as she realized what Jack was getting at.

The baby teeth looked between Jack and Tooth, heads whipping back and forth as they watched the exchange and tried to follow. Baby Tooth was the first to realize just what they meant, leaping up with a happy little squeal to snuggle against Jack's cheek.

The other girls picked up on it quickly – probably because of Baby Tooth's excited chirps – and in seconds Jack had all of them perching on him, hugging him to the best of their abilities. Jack was returning their affections, stroking tiny heads and laughing, gentle as always with the girls.

Tooth laid a hand on Jack's shoulder, drawing his attention back to her. “I've seen how you treat them,” she said quietly. “How much you love them. There's no one else I'd trust more with my girls.”

His eyes were suspiciously bright when he looked up at her, cradling several of the girls close to his chest. “I don't know what to say. This...it's the greatest gift I've ever been given.”

They were quiet for a time, Tooth slipping her arms around Jack to lean against his back, feeling him recline against her as the girls continued to chirp and coo.

“Can you teach me to understand them?” Jack asked eventually, soft so he didn't break the atmosphere. Tooth smiled into his hair, nodding softly.

“If we decide to go through with it, then after the bonding ceremony, you should be able to understand them as easily as I do,” she said.

“...how's that work?” Jack asked, softer now as one of the baby teeth decided his hoodie's collar was a perfect place for a nap. Apparently this 'daddy' thing was going to go just fine. She'd worried, a little, that her girls still had crushes on Jack. Tooth smiled gently down on her daughter before answering.

“In front of witnesses, I braid one of my feathers into your hair. If you can, you should have some kind of token you can give me in exchange, but it's not necessary. Then we exchange vows of some kind. Honestly, it was rare for a Sister of Flight to find someone who took her fancy, let alone someone she wanted to court. It's the intent behind it more than the gifts, the feather's just so everyone knows you're my mate now.”

Jack blushed and tilted his head, eyes glittering with mischief. “Oh? I'm yours now?”

Tooth giggled and gave Jack a little peck on the nose. “Yep. All mine. And I'm yours. Got a problem with that?”

“Only if someone tries to claim marrying you means I have to be a king.” Jack made a face at the thought. “You're awesome at being a Queen, but I'm no king.”

“Aw,” Tooth pretended to pout, tracing a nail down Jack's sleeve teasingly, inwardly thrilled that she could finally be so open about her feelings, “you don't like the titles I could give you?”

“Well, I'm rather partial to 'husband',” Jack teased, catching her teasing hand in his and bring it to his mouth for a kiss. “Since I'd be yours.”

Tooth bit back a giggle at the cheesy response, but it filled her heart anyway. “Do you remember what the traditional ending is for a faerie rescue story?” 

“You mean besides our bit, with renegotiating the treaty?” Jack said with exaggerated innocence, even as he wondered if Tooth really was going there with this.

She smiled, one slightly smug and possessive. “A wedding.”

He raise an eyebrow, lopsided grin settling over his face. “Why, Your Majesty – are you asking me to marry you?”

She matched his raised eyebrow with one of her own. “And if I am?”

Jack leaned in until his forehead rested against Tooth's “ _Yes_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh oops look at that I just got sap all over the place...sorry not sorry.


	35. Happy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Because I'm happy_   
> _Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof_   
> _Because I'm happy_   
> _Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth_   
> _Because I'm happy_   
> _Clap along if you know what happiness is to you_   
> _Because I'm happy_   
> _Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do_   
> _\- Pharrell Williams, Happy,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM)_

Neither Tooth nor Jack could say how long they stayed in that room, relaxing in each others' presence and exchanging soft murmurs and softer touches, reveling in finally being able to be open about their feelings and courtship.

The baby teeth who had arrived with Baby Tooth left after a bit, their breaks over, heading back to Punjam Hy Loo for coins to take to the children and to spread the news among their sisters. 

Baby Tooth had chosen to stay, for now, curled up on Jack's chest, and Tooth felt the urge to indulge her. Jack ran a gentle finger over Baby Tooth's head, smiling as she nuzzled her cheek into his hand, before taking a closer look at her and frowning.

“Tooth...is Baby Tooth...a little bigger than the other girls? And more...blue?” he asked hesitantly.

Tooth paused in her idle preening of Jack's hair (which he'd been enjoying more than he wanted to admit) to look down at her daughter, who was waking under the attention.

“It's because you Named her,” Tooth said quietly. “She's as much yours as she is mine, now. She might keep changing to be all yours, might have even if we hadn't been courting.”

Jack looked stricken at the revelation, twisting to look up at Tooth. “But...I never meant to...it was so quick...”

“It's all right, Jack,” Tooth soothed. “I kept forgetting to tell you, I thought we'd have more time before she started to change to introduce you to the idea.”

Jack looked down at the tiny fairy in his hands. “I can't take it back...and I'm sorry, but I don't think I'd _want_ to,” he admitted. “I love her, Tooth. But,” he held Baby Tooth a little closer, glancing up at Tooth, “what about the others? I helped them when they chose their names, is that going to affect them too?”

Tooth's wings stilled for a moment, thinking it through as quickly as she could. “I...hadn't considered it. I'm fairly sure it won't. No, I'm sure it won't. They chose the names, after all. You just provided them.” She pressed against Jack's side, resting her head on his as she thought before nodding firmly. “I'm not sure I ever thanked you for that. The girls are so happy, Jack. They're getting their own personalities now, more than ever before, and no one else can try taking them from me. It's a good thing, Jack,” she added firmly when he looked unconvinced. “Did Baby Tooth choose a second name when you helped the others?” she asked suddenly, struck by a sudden thought.

Jack looked a little embarrassed even as Baby Tooth preened. “I...kind of picked one out for her,” he admitted. Tooth laughed softly, stroking a finger down her daughter's head. 

“No wonder she's changing so quickly. Twice Named and Claimed. Is it a secret?”

Baby Tooth giggled and flew up to whisper her second name to her mother before returning to Jack's hands, and Tooth bit back a happy gasp.

_Rani_ , he'd named her, Rani, his little princess, his little lady, his special one, an extra bond between them.

Tooth hugged Jack, nearly crying with delight. “It's _perfect_.”

Jack worried at his lip, grin twitching at the corners of his mouth as he glanced down at the fairy he still held. Before he could say what he was thinking, a knock sounded at the door, Bunny stepping inside.

“Oy, do I need to get a hose?” he called as he cleared the door, smirking at the pair. Jack stuck his tongue out at him even as Tooth said, “We're just talking, Bunny,” with a touch of amused exasperation in her voice.

“Talkin'. Sure ya are,” Bunny drawled, giving them a wink. “Got lots to clear up, don't ya?”

“You're one to talk,” Jack fired back, grin falling into place. Bunny shrugged, unrepentant, and let the jab slide this one time. He wasn't good at talking things out anymore, and they all knew it.

“Puck's back,” he said instead, letting the teasing drop. “An' the rest of the spirits are here. Hope you've got some o' that sass ready, 'cuz we got a treaty to renegotiate and terms fer breakin' the last one ta hash out.”

 

Jack and Tooth followed Bunny to what Jack mentally dubbed “The War Room”, a larger room with a round table in the center and maps tacked all over the walls. Jack hesitated at the door while Bunny strode in confidently. He may project confidence, but Jack knew that a few short years before, he'd still been considered a minor spirit, actual power levels and fearful respect of the other winter and autumn spirits notwithstanding, and therefore beneath the notice of the major spirits already in the room. 

...not that he tended to flaunt just how powerful he could be, so he supposed he could understand no one here really knowing how strong he was.

At least none of the other winter spirits were here. General Winter and the Snow Queen were pretty powerful, but apparently not powerful enough. Of course, if they could be beaten up by him, maybe they weren't that powerful after all.

A few years ago, none of the spirits in the room beyond would have so much as looked in his direction...unless they'd wanted a dance, but they were too busy for _fun_ , for the most part, so he probably would have gotten freaked out, declined (which would probably have been something along the lines of a doppler effect _nope_ fading into the distance) , and gotten out of there as fast as possible. 

Tooth paused on her way into the room, looking back at Jack questioningly. He grinned back, straightening and taking a better grip on his staff. He was a _Guardian_ now, and the Spirit and Bringer of the Autumn and Winter, fiancee of the Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies – and he was equal to any of the spirits in that room, no matter what they thought.

Jack glanced around the room, taking stock before he was noticed. Mother Nature was speaking quietly to Amaterasu in a corner of the large room, both of whom he only recognized from a vague feeling for the one and thanks to images he'd seen from the times he'd stopped by Japan for the other. He didn't recognize most of the others, save Queen Maeve standing in isolation against the far wall, and he had to bite back a yelp of surprise as Puck took his distraction as an opportunity to sneak up on him.

“Hey there, frosty dancer,” they teased, draping an arm over Jack's shoulders and ignoring his half hearted glare, giving a little squeeze. Jack rolled his eyes and raised his arm, returning the half-hug. “Got yourself in a bigger mess than usual, didn't ya.”

Jack snorted. “You say that like this is _my_ fault,” he said, pretending insult. “ _They_ were the ones stealing children.”

“Yeah, but you're too pretty to pass up,” Puck teased. Jack rolled his eyes and elbowed Puck, who ignored the jab. “So, did you and Queen Toothiana have a nice... _talk_?”

Jack gave Puck a friendly, if hard, shove, face frosting over hard and fast. “ _Yes,_ and that's all we did, thank you!” He gave a huff of breath at Puck's unrepentant face, grabbing their hand to pull them into a corner. “Look, we've been courting for awhile now, and we're really good friends, but we hadn't actually talked things through until now.”

Puck's expression turned sly. “But she's already talking marriage, ain't she? That _is_ the traditional ending to a fae rescue, yanno. Maeve's irritated enough with ya'll for what ya pulled off without forgetting to add the traditions to it.”

Jack blushed and his eyes unfocused, looking so star struck Puck could only gape at him for a second before laughing, slapping the frost spirit on the back. “Hey, cheer up, it's only for a hundred years,” Puck laughed. Jack blinked, coming back to reality sharply, looking over at Puck with tilted head and confused eyes.

“Oh, ya didn't know?”

“Kindly remember you're talking to the spirit nearly everyone basically avoided for around three hundred years,” Jack said dryly. “Marriage certainly wasn't a topic mentioned.”

“Avoided unless they wanted a dance,” Puck amended for Jack. When Jack just glared at them, they sighed, relenting. “We fae do it different, like just about everything else, but spirit marriages last for a hundred years. You still want to be married when the century's over, you do a re-commitment ceremony. You don't, no harm no foul, go your separate ways. Buncha high-rankers like this group came up with it to help out marriages gone bad, like Zeus and Hera. So when's the big day?”

Jack chuckled, relaxing. “We don't know. I mean, yeah, we've been courting, but everything's happened so fast.”

Puck gave him a shoulder bump. “Well, just don't forget to invite me. C'mon, I think they're ready to get down to business.”

 

They were, and if it weren't for Tooth's hand holding his under the table – and occasionally migrating to his leg for a quick, surreptitious squeeze – and Puck's equally bored poking, Jack might have fallen asleep and faceplanted onto the table right in the middle of the meeting. 

Yeah, he was interested, but they were droning on and on and _on_. Treaties had to be precise when it came to spirits, more so for fae, or they'd find loopholes everywhere...but it was tedious. 

At this rate, they were going to be here for _days_.

Puck gave Jack an elbow to the side abruptly, and the room snapped to attention as Puck reached out and snagged the treaty away from North.

“Here, give us that,” they said, ignoring the shocked looks they got. “Oh, this won't do, won't do at all. Look at this Jack, just _look_ at it,” they declared, a swirl of their hand producing two pairs of rhinestoned reading glasses, handing the pair decorated like frost over to Jack. “It's so utterly _unfair_ to us fae.”

Jack accepted the glasses with a smirk that made Tooth's stomach clench with a surprised mixture of attraction and unease, hopping up to crouch on the chair as he preferred, three hundred years of living outdoors leaving him a touch feral and uncomfortable in proper chairs. “No, but if we take this bit out, it's better.”

“But I don't like this bit over _here_ ,” Puck whined, pointing.

“Can't take that out, I know you, you'll exploit that for ages. Gotta be fair to us to yanno,” Jack shot back with a smirk. Puck smirked back, which apparently sent a silent signal to Jack, because suddenly it was _on_.

Tooth sat back and let the words wash over her, unable to keep up with the sudden, rapid fire negotiating. Both of them were overacting outrageously, dramatically offended gasps and flailing gestures, accusing each other of ripping out hearts and utter betrayal, and other such exaggerations as they worked their way through the treaty, ignoring everyone else in the room.

Chancing a glance around the room, Tooth bit back a giggle. Every eye was focused on the show Puck and Jack were putting on – and, quite possibly, a few of those looks were rather appreciative of the glasses gracing Jack's face, which she had to admit were surprisingly attractive – and she doubted any of them were paying attention at first to realize just how shrewdly they actually were negotiating. She certainly had no intention of pointing it out – if nothing else, it would run the fun Jack and Puck were so obviously having. Plus, this was the most enjoyment _she'd_ ever had at one of these meetings.

Added bonus, despite how silly he was being, watching Jack be so competent was quite...interesting.

 

Tooth kept expecting someone to interrupt Jack and Puck's negotiation – one of the more serious spirits in particular, like Mother Nature, who was not known for her patience when it came to spirits, or Bunny, but they didn't. 

Bunny, she noticed with some amusement, actually looked like he couldn't decide between being concerned and upset with Jack – or laughing his head off.

Catching his eye, Tooth gave a little nod to Jack, mouthing silently, “ _Who knew?_ ”

Bunny managed to bite back a snort of laughter, both of them glancing around the table. King Oberon and Queen Titania looked the least surprised, though they both guessed Jack had surprised everyone here. Tooth supposed it was only to be expected – Puck was, technically, aligned with King Oberon, even if he was more of a free agent now, so they did have experience with tricksters.

Queen Maeve looked quite disgruntled about the turn things had taken – tricksters were harder to deceive than any other spirit, and now there were a pair of notorious ones debating the treaty that was going to bind all of them.

North was gaping, eyes reflecting his center as he watched the byplay go down. It was a gamble on who would start laughing first, he or Sandy.

The other, older spirits were wearing varying degrees of affronted amusement. Still, they were sitting back and watching rather than interfering as Jack and Puck continued, ignoring the other spirits, and Tooth could see the dawning realization across everyone's faces as the level of negotiation at play registered to them.

Even as Tooth turned back to watch, Puck spit into his hand, Jack following suit before smacking their hands together, shaking them firmly. 

Jack slid the treaty, with the changes he and Puck had agreed upon, back over to North, the paper's slide against the table's wood loud in the suddenly silent room.

Finally one of the older spirits, Tooth wasn't sure who, asked, “...what just happened?”

To everyone's surprise, it was Mother Nature who broke first and began laughing. Most of them were sure she had forgotten how to laugh.

“It would seem the Guardians finally have a negotiator of some skill on their side,” she said when she finally managed to calm. “It's about time. Perhaps now you may try negotiations rather than brute force, yes?” she added with a raised brow, still obviously amused. “If only since now they'll have less chance of swindling you.”

She took the treaty from North and glanced over it, though Tooth was fairly sure she actually read every bit in that seemingly quick glance, and touched the bottom of the paper, leaving her signature.

Maeve huffed as the other spirits copied Mother Nature, signing the treaty and preparing to leave. She signed the treaty with poor grace, glaring at the section dealing with what was to happen to her and her fae who had broken the earlier treaty. Five years Underhill for each child, with a provision that the years under hill matched those over the hill. It could hardly be called fair if it passed by in a few seconds for the fae, after all.

It had been agreed that Jack, as the injured party, would decide his own reparations with the aid of Tooth and Puck within the week.

“You're leaving already?” she asked mildly as the spirits drifted toward the door, mildly enough that most of the spirits looked at her askance. “Aren't you going to stay for the wedding?”

There was a heavy, interested pause, many of the spirits glancing over at Jack and Tooth. After all, they hadn't hidden why the Guardians had gone charging Underhill...

“It's the traditional ending for this type of story,” Maeve said, still mild but with eyes hungry and vicious. 

Puck gripped Jack's arm quickly, giving a squeeze. The older a spirit, the more they valued traditions...and the spirits in this room were very old indeed.

“So it's true, Queen Toothiana,” Oberon said, resting his elbow on the table and leaning his head on his palm, watching Jack and Tooth with interest. “You've finally chosen a spirit to court.”

“The dance club _will_ be displeased,” his Queen said, laughing. “We all thought you'd never find someone...worthy,” she added, eying Jack curiously, and Tooth bristled.

“He is more than worthy, and he is _mine_. There will be a wedding,” Tooth said firmly, rising from her seat and taking Jack's hand, “and it will be soon, but it will not be now.”

North, Bunny, and Sandy cut off the burgeoning protests when they stood, silently supporting Jack and Tooth. “We will be wed,” Tooth repeated, “but on our own time. I'm sure you'll know when, most of you will probably be invited. It's not as though we could keep something as big as two Guardians getting married quiet,” she said quietly to Jack when he looked like he would have liked to protest. 

Jack nodded, letting go of the idea of a small, intimate wedding. It made sense that two Guardians getting married would be a big deal. “We just realized we were courting,” Tooth said quietly. “We want some time to enjoy that before we wed.”

“Besides, wedding of this size needs time to plan,” North said happily, with a saucy nod, and Jack mentally groaned. “Will be wedding to remember!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song didn't want to cooperate for this chapter. Neither did the chapter itself, really.  
> It's looking like there will be about four more chapters to this. It's a little hard to tell ahead of time - they like to grow on me, like the fic itself did. I'll be sad to see it end, I'm having fun with this one.


	36. Life With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _When I was a younger man_   
> _When I was a silly boy_   
> _I didn't need a thing,_   
> _I was strong as anything,_   
> _I viewed solitude as a joy_
> 
> _But since I met you I'm distraught_   
> _You wandered in and now I'm caught_   
> _I never thought I would see_   
> _Someone so truly good_   
> _Some one who's so everything I'm not_
> 
> _I want to spend my life with you_   
> _Don't want to live all alone_   
> _I can't conceive of the years left in me_   
> _Without you in our home_   
> _\- Celtic Thunder, Life With You_

The meeting had wrapped up quickly after Tooth's announcement, many of the spirits in attendance eagerly heading off to spread the juicy news they'd just received.

Whoever thought that the more powerful spirits weren't just as bad about gossiping as the dryads and naiads was delusional, to be quite frank.

They weren't 'just as bad' – they were _worse_.

The Guardians were the last to leave, quietly agreeing to meet again later that week to discuss everything that had happened after the last few months and the last few days in particular, but not quite willing to leave each others' sight just yet.

In the end, duty forced at least two of them to go, Sandy and Tooth having duties that never ended. Tooth was reluctant, but the call of duty was strong, and so was Jack's urging. He needed to rest, and her girls needed her. Still, it was a reluctant parting, hands lingering until the last possible second and with more than one backward glance.

 

Tooth hovered in her command central, giving the girls rapid-fire directions and cooing over the new teeth they brought in. They'd done well on their own, but it was still a relief for all of them when Tooth could take over again.

It had been nearly a week since...well, since everything, and if she were being honest, she both hated and was grateful that it had been so long. The girls were getting better at doing their duties on their own, but they still needed her, and going without instruction as long as they had...they'd needed a few days with her at the helm to feel confident again, to be sure they'd done everything right. 

But still...Jack hadn't come by the entire time. Had she scared him off, going straight to marriage? But he'd seemed so eager before it was brought up in the meeting...or was he just giving her space to do her duties?

It would be like him, to try and give her space to do what was important...but it would also be like him to avoid her for a week out of some kind of misplaced fear over his own worth.

Shaking her head to clear it of those thoughts, she threw herself back into her duties. She'd find out the day after tomorrow at the latest, when they all met up.

She just had to trust Jack.

 

Jack frowned, concentrating. The feather in his hand whited at the tip where he touched it, frost curling down the delicate vanes, before nerves made the frost shoot down the feather across his hand. He groaned, letting the feather fall to shatter on the floor among the previous failures.

He wanted so badly to be able to return Tooth's gesture, but his frost, which he usually had such control over, was reacting to his nerves badly, worse than it had in years. He'd blame the influx of power from his rapidly multiplying believers, except Bunny and North had – with Sandy's prodding reminders – shown him how to deal with sudden power surges, for the most part. _They_ hadn't had to deal with suddenly being believed in, after all – their rise to power had been much, much more gradual.

A freak out like that could hurt Tooth, and pretty badly if he was guessing right. She was tough, but that didn't mean she was resistant to cold like he was. He hadn't even been able to figure out yet if it would hold, he kept getting frost all over himself before that could happen!

Flopping back across his bed, he stared at the ceiling moodily. He wanted to marry Tooth, he just...wished it didn't have to be such a big deal. Yes, Tooth was a Queen, and they were both Guardians, just...it was for them, not everyone else.

He'd have to talk to Tooth about it, he decided. And about...well, everything they didn't talk about already, really. It's been almost a week, she should have everything under control. He just...didn't want to push, hanging around like a lovesick puppy. They both needed space, and he wanted to respect that, even if he'd been tempted to follow her right away and ask about the wedding and the marriage after that.

Maybe the flight would clear his head, anyway. It was almost autumn in the Northern hemisphere, and he'd have to get to work soon, frosting the leaves and crops to usher in winter, and he wouldn't have as much free time as he did now.

 

By the time he was halfway over the ocean, well on his way to Punjam Hy Loo, he'd come up with a new idea for Tooth's marriage token, one he could make ahead of time and hopefully not mess up unlike frosting one of her feathers, and was beginning to wonder if it would be possible to invite any of the Burgess Believers to the wedding.

They'd been the first to realize what was happening, and were older now, older than most were to still see spirits, but thankfully still believed...but the spirits that they might have to invite...caught in his thoughts, it took a few minutes to realize he was being hailed.

Cupid was panting by the time he caught up to Jack, who'd stopped and was hovering, waiting on him. “Oy, Jackie-boy, using the wind to fly isn't fair,” he complained. Jack snickered and let the 'Jackie-boy' slide. Cupid was one of the few who could call him things like that to his face, and they both knew it. 

Taking pity on his friend – who did use his wings to fly, for the most part, despite them looking far too small to take his weight – Jack darted up to a cloud, sitting down and patting the spot beside him. He didn't quite understand how it worked, but somehow, clouds were solid enough for some spirits to sit on when they wanted to, yet pass through when they needed to, and he and Cupid were two of those spirits.

He was going to blame belief and leave it at that. It was easier than wondering.

“So,” Cupid began when he'd caught his breath, grinning at Jack in a way that immediately had him on edge, “I hear congratulations are in order.”

Jack grinned, always ready to play. “Oh, you mean the whole 'escaping the fae queen and renegotiating the treaty' thing? You should've seen their faces when Puck and I got going!”

“Not thaaaaat!” Cupid near whined, eyes sparkling as he played along. He paused for a moment before adding, “Congrats on that, though, by the way. It was probably well worth the price of admission. But!” he said, with a raised finger in Jack's face for emphasis. “You! Do you even know! Just how long it's been! Since we had spirits wed?” he demanded. 

Jack shrugged, and Cupid threw himself back onto the cloud with a dramatic groan. “A thousand years, Jackie. A _thousand years_. And never a Guardian! You do know the five of you are the highest ranked spirits around at the moment, don't you?” he asked seriously, dropping the dramatics for a moment. “It used to be the gods, and there are still some strong enough to get respect, but you five...”

Jack groaned himself, joining Cupid in sprawling across the cloud. “Don't remind me. The only thing that's meant so far is that apparently, Tooth and I can't have a small wedding, you know? That's all I wanted, was for it to be us and our family and close friends, something just for us. But now...it sounded like we're supposed to have this massive sideshow for other spirits to come and gawk at.”

Cupid twisted to the side, looking over at Jack. “I want to marry Tooth, I really do,” Jack continued, “I just...ugh.”

“Have you spoken to her about it yet?” Cupid asked, and Jack blew a bit of cloud away from his face petulantly.

“Was on my way. She'd been away from her palace for awhile, needed to take over for the baby teeth again,” he answered shortly. “It just...all happened so fast,” he admitted. “One minute, we've just realized we've been courting, the next, we're getting married, and I don't know anything about getting married when it comes to spirits – or what being married means to spirits, either. I mean, she's got duties, really important ones.”

“You say that as if bringing the autumn and winter and joy weren't important,” Cupid interjected, voice dry as the Sahara. Jack waved it off, trying not to show how pleased he was that someone got just what it was he did. 

“You know what I mean,” he said, rather than arguing. “Tooth's duties are year round and never ending. Marriage is...big. And we haven't even tried dating yet! Just courting without even knowing we were both doing it!”

“Well, if you'll take an old spirit of love's advice,” Cupid began, ignoring Jack's amused snort, “then you'll just tell Toothiana what you've told me.” He gave Jack a shove, rolling off the cloud himself. “Well, go! Move that frosty butt! And I want an invitation to the party, so don't you forget!”

Jack laughed as he tumbled off the cloud, sticking his tongue out at Cupid before darting off towards Punjam Hy Loo, suddenly looking forward to this conversation...and utterly terrified of it all at the same time.

 

Swinging around the tallest spire of the Tooth Palace, Jack slipped and slid his way down between the tall towers that made up the palace, grinning at the baby teeth as he joined them in their stream towards the command central.

He grinned widely at them as they chirped greetings, arms full of the teeth they'd collected and too focused on their work to stop for a proper greeting. Still grinning, he split off from them as they began to dart to the different towers to deposit their teeth, shooting up vertically to the central command center.

Peeking over the edge and looking rather a lot like a mischievous cat, Jack watched Tooth shooting orders to her children, sun glinting off her feathers and all of them cheerful and busy. Carefully Jack pulled himself onto the deck around the central cage, army crawling closer.

He crawled all the way to the edge of the cagelike center of the platform, waiting until Tooth took a breath between directions to pop up and run a cold finger and the lightest of frosts down Tooth's back between her wings.

Tooth shrieked, jerking away from Jack's hand and whipping around, looking for an attack, even as Jack fell over laughing. 

Hands on hips, Tooth fluttered over to hover above Jack, trying to keep her face stern even as a smile quirked the edges of her lips. “So, I don't see my fiancee for a week, and this is how he says hello?” she said, still trying to be stern even as Jack grinned up at her unrepentantly, eyes sparkling with glee.

“How could I resist?” Jack teased. Tooth eyed him for a moment before darting down, her hands slipping under his hoodie, and he exploded into giggles as she tickled him mercilessly, several off duty baby teeth joining in with excited squeals, darting under his hoodie to use their tiny feathers to devious use.

They ignored his laughing pleas for mercy, tickling until he was crying with laughter before giving in and stopping to settle onto the platform beside him, Tooth sinking to her knees while her daughters perched around them, the others still zipping in and out of the palace. A few feet away, Baby Tooth was taking over while trying not to be distracted by the playing going on so close yet so far away.

Finally calming down, Jack blew a bit of hair out of his face and turned on his side to look at Tooth. He took a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh that fanned quickly melting frost across the jewel toned mosaic of the platform before he spoke. “I...think we need to talk,” he said quietly, “about the wedding. And the marriage. And...everything.”

Tooth blinked at him for a moment, heart suddenly sinking. Had he...changed his mind? Were they... “I know we're going a bit fast,” she said softly, “but...”

“Yeah, and winter's about to start up,” Jack said. “We've both got duties to take care of, and we can't have a...” he blushed, cheeks frosting over lightly before continuing, “a honeymoon if it's my busy season and your girls need you right away.”

“Oh,” was all Tooth could find to say to that, a blush covering her own cheeks. She took a deep breath, forcing her blush down and looked back at Jack. “Well, yes, there is that. You'd rather wait until after Winter's over?”

“And Easter,” Jack said, “so Bunny can come too. I mean, I'd like all of us there, yanno? But...does it really have to be a big thing? Can't we just...I dunno, have just our friends there for the actual wedding and throw a big party afterward?”

Tooth sprawled on her stomach beside Jack, enjoying the moment of just basking in the sun beside him, even if she did have a lot to think about. “I'm not sure. A lot of them are going to be into it...”

“Kinda like that Royal Wedding awhile back, huh?” Jack asked, with a twist to his lips that was half amusement, half resignation at Tooth's nod. “...did you want a big wedding?” he asked suddenly, twisting to look at Tooth better, suddenly worried he was ruining her wedding dreams. She shrugged, staring into the distance as she thought.

“Never thought I would have one at all, especially after...” she trailed off, raising a wing in silent explanation. Jack winced and nodded in understanding. He reached out, watching for her silent permission before running gentle fingers along the edge of her wing.

“They're beautiful,” he whispered, “every inch of them, and your feathers. You _glow_.”

Tooth felt a smile stretching across her face and looked down at the tiles, tracing them with a finger. She'd been complimented on her feathers before, of course, but each time it had felt like there was an ulterior motive to the compliment, and that it wasn't honestly meant, unlike the honest admiration in Jack's voice. 

“You'd rather a small wedding, then?” she asked, and he let her change the subject, shrugging.

“I thought so, but I never thought I'd be married either,” he said honestly. “It's mostly all the...fuss and bother with a big wedding, know what I mean?”

Tooth looked Jack over and thought she did. “All the ritual and formality and stiff tradition?” 

Jack shrugged. “I guess. I know it's important and all, but...”

Tooth ran a hand down his arm, still enjoying a little thrill that she could do so freely, gaining his instant attention. “We have time. We can talk it all out until we're both happy.”

Jack raised his hand to cover hers where it still rested on his arm. “Yeah. We've got a lot to talk out.” He raised her hand to his lips, brushing a kiss across the back where feathers tapered off to skin, smiling even as her breath hitched at the innocent gesture. “I don't want to screw this up,” he admitted quietly, pressing his cheek to the back of her hand. “I kind of...have a habit of messing things up.”

Raising her free hand, Tooth cupped Jack's cheek, turning her other hand to cradle his face. “Not everything,” she said quietly, leaning forward to touch her forehead to his. “Not nearly as much as you think.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't find the song on youtube, sorry. I'll be putting together a playlist on 8tracks and downloadable version once the story is over, though.


	37. Heaven is a Place on Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _When I feel alone_   
>  _I reach for you_   
>  _And you bring me home_   
>  _When I'm lost at sea_   
>  _I hear your voice_   
>  _And it carries me_
> 
> _In this world we're just beginning_  
>  _To understand the miracle of living_  
>  _Baby I was afraid before_  
>  _But I'm not afraid anymore_
> 
> _Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?_  
>  _Ooh heaven is a place on earth_  
>  _They say in heaven love comes first_  
>  _We'll make heaven a place on earth_  
>  _Ooh heaven is a place on earth_  
>  _\- Belinda Carlisle, Heaven is a Place on Earth,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05V4CgSL0lw)_

Jack stared in disbelief at the rows and rows of tables, each filled with a double row of neatly labeled presents. At the far end of the room, yeti – who had volunteered for the project, as they were bigger than the baby teeth and the Christmas rush was over – were sorting the latest arrivals and labeling them.

Behind him, Tooth giggled. There was a soft buzz of wings and she fluttered forward to push Jack's mouth closed as he continued to stare in dawning horror at the room and its contents.

“Tooth, please tell me I'm hallucinating. Please. For my own sanity, I'm begging you to tell me I'm seeing things and there isn't really a whole room full of...of stuff,” Jack said finally.

“Sorry, Jack,” Tooth said, not sounding sorry at all. “Guardian, royalty, _and_ the first spirits to get married in a thousand years means everyone wants our attention. In this case, it means gifts. Old tradition for this type of situation – a high-ranking spirit marriage, that is.”

Jack floated between the tables, still not sure what to say. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing before turning back to face Tooth, who was watching him, a few of the baby teeth rushing forward from where they'd been hovering around their mother to hover around Jack, cheeping worriedly.

“It just...it feels like they're trying to bribe us or somethin',” he admitted. “I mean, they ignore me for three hundred years, and then all this?” He gestured to the table behind them, hesitating before picking up a small gold and emerald tiara, a golden arch of filigree set with two small amethysts flanking a larger, sparkling emerald. Tiny as it was, it looked like it cost a king's ransom, and he felt like he was going to get in trouble just for being near it, let alone touching it. “Though this'll probably look pretty on you,” he admitted, smirking. 

Tooth giggled and darted forward, picking up the tiara's silver, sapphire, and diamond partner and plunking it on Jack's head. “Fair's fair,” she teased before he could take it off as he made a face, taking the tiara he still held and settling it on her own head. “If I have to wear one, so do you.”

He laughed, bowing and accepting the tiara for now. No matter how strange it may have felt to have it on, it was fun to see Tooth enjoying herself. The baby teeth who were fluttering around him darted up to inspect it, chirping and giggling among themselves. It still didn't feel real, that spirits were sending presents to _him_ of equal value to _her_. “Still not a king,” he reminded Tooth, laughing. “So...we're kinda obligated to accept all this stuff, aren't we. To not piss somebody off.”

Tooth nodded, looking over the pile of presents with a slightly jaded eye. “If it helps, the head yeti...I think her name's Gerta...muttered something about keeping the presents separated by who actually wishes us well and who's doing it for other reasons.”

“Well, that's...surprisingly helpful and nice of them,” Jack said in surprise. “How can they tell?”

Tooth shrugged. “I _think_ it's mostly by knowing the spirits that sent the gifts, but it's hard to really tell. She muttered something about it being their present to us.”

Which was the truth – none of them really understood how the yeti knew things or did things, just that somehow, they did. It had always seemed somehow impolite to ask.

“But we still have to go through it all,” she added, looking over all the gifts again. “Some of them are going to want thank you notes, or some other basic acknowledgment. The tough ones are the ones that want a favor in return. I think the yeti are sending those back unless they trust the giver.”

“I sure hope so,” Jack said with a grimace. Tooth nodded, matching his grimace as several of the girls winced. There were some spirits that one never should accept a gift from, no matter what the reason they sent it was.

Jack laughed suddenly, spreading his arms and giving a spin. “Well, better get it started then, or we'll be at this until the wedding. We'll make it fun! We only have to do it once, after all. Thank Manny, right?”

“Jack...these are the _engagement _gifts,” Tooth said, her voice a mix of affection, regret, and laughter, the laughter winning when the slack-jawed expression reappeared on Jack's face. “The wedding presents are given after the ceremony.”__

__“I...what?”_ _

__Tooth shrugged, running her finger over a music box sitting next to the padded boxes that had held the tiaras. “It's been a long time since anyone got married, so everyone's going a bit overboard. Add in the 'Queen' part and 'Guardians, and, well...Phil tried to talk them out of it, but North didn't really help, so...”_ _

__“...I hope you have a lot of storage space,” Jack said finally. “My den can't hold half this stuff. This is way beyond overboard.”_ _

__Tooth shrugged. “You're just as curious as I am about what they sent, admit it,” she teased, giving Jack's shoulder a poke._ _

__He smirked back, unrepentant, shoving the worries and uncertainties over the sheer volume of gifts and the reasoning behind them away to look at later. “You know it. Wanna go for it?”_ _

__“Try and stop me,” she met him grin for grin, pointing to the table by the edge of the room. “Start there?”_ _

__“Bring it on.”_ _

__

__“Okay, I get that you're the tooth fairy, but gold toothbrushes? _Really?_?_ _

__“Still better than the silver ice picks,” Tooth replied dryly._ _

__“... touche. And agreed.”_ _

__

__“...okay, these might not be a bad idea. Who sent them?”_ _

__“Not sure,” Tooth replied, eying the cap in her mitten covered hands and wondering just how she was supposed to put it on over her feathers. “Should say on the tag by the box.”_ _

__“Huh, the snegúrochka. They're sweet girls. Hey look, a coat to match.” Jack held it up with a grin, and Tooth shrugged it on happily._ _

__Okay, the girls were so getting an invite._ _

__

__Jack looked inside the box and poked at the strange tangle of stuff inside. “Hey, Tooth?” he called over to where Tooth was poking at a second music box. She glanced up as Jack held up the box, pulling out what looked like a... “Why would...” Jack glanced at the tag for the sender name, “why would Aphrodite send us a leather ping pong paddle?” he asked._ _

__Tooth clapped both hands over her mouth as Jack gave the paddle a few swings. “I don't get it...it's way too heavy for ping pong. How're you suppose to play with this thing?”_ _

__Abandoning the music box for the moment, Tooth fluttered over to look down into the rest of the box. A mass of leather and rubber met her eyes, and she dug through it quickly, feeling a blush rise on her cheeks as she sorted out just what all Aphrodite had sent them._ _

__“Oh, my,” she whispered, closing the box quickly as her baby fairies started to crowd around, chirping in curiosity. “I'm not sure you girls are ready for this,” she said quietly, glancing over at Jack as he shrugged and laid the paddle down on the table, moving on to the next present obliviously. “I'm not entirely sure _Jack's_ ready for this...” she added, just as quietly. “ _That's_ going to be an interesting conversation...take this to my bedroom,” she added in an undertone, handing the box off to a group of baby teeth. They giggled between themselves and shot off, the box tipping and tilting between them as they fluttered._ _

__

__“...a bunch of _feathers_?” Jack asked incredulously, holding them up. “What is this, a feather duster do-it-yourself kit? Why would Eros send us something like this? ...Tooth, why are you giggling?”_ _

__

__There was more jewelry – and Jack was honestly surprised just how much of it was obviously meant for him, if the coloring was anything to go by, paired off with a piece for Tooth each time – and more things that Jack honestly couldn't put a name to. Weaponry, books, odd little trinkets...most of it seemed fairly useless, but he did take note of a few that had made Tooth particularly happy._ _

__They might have made better time if Jack hadn't kept stopping to dance with the music boxes, sweeping Tooth off her feet. Not that Tooth was going to complain about the impromptu dancing with her fiancee._ _

__At this point, she probably had more dances under her belt than anyone in that Dance Club._ _

__Devika had rushed off at one point with her sisters, coming back with paper and pen, to make notes on who had sent actually thoughtful gifts – like the winter gear from the snow maidens – who had tried to at least send something nice, and who had apparently just dialed it in. They had a separate list for the somewhat insulting gifts – like the rock sugar candy or the space heater._ _

__The baby teeth couldn't seem to decide if they were more insulted by the gift of rock candy to the Tooth Fairy or the space heater to the Spirit of Winter._ _

__

__Jack opened the box labeled as coming from Cupid cautiously. Yes, they were friends, but the spirit of love had an odd sense of humor at times._ _

__“...ha. Ha,” Jack said dryly, hooking the padded handcuffs with one finger and holding them up for Tooth to see._ _

__“Getting a bit kinky down here, I see,” Bunny's voice rang over the room, and the twosome turned to see Bunny standing just inside the door, arms crossed and smirking. Jack stuck his tongue out at Bunny and dropped the handcuffs back into the box._ _

__Jack set down the box, scooting it to the side where Tooth grabbed it, sliding it off to her side with a grin and a wink to Bunny._ _

__“So, 'ow's it goin' then?” Bunny asked, striding into the room slowly, taking the time to look at the gifts the girls pointed out to him proudly. “Nice tiara there, Snowflake, by the way.”_ _

__Jack started in surprise, hand going up to touch the tiara he'd forgotten he was wearing. “Jealous I get to be all prettied up, Cottontail?”_ _

__“Yer th' prettiest o' all o' us, Snowflake,” Bunny said, fluttering his lashes. Several of the baby teeth chirped, a mixed chorus of agreement and protests, and Bunny held up his hands in surrender. “Yer all pretty too, 'course ya are. So's yer ma.”_ _

__Jack bit back a snort, knowing better than to draw the baby teeth's ire. “So what's up, Bunnster? Something wrong with the Easter prep?”_ _

__“Nah, she's all apples mate,” Bunny replied, coming to sit by Tooth and bumping shoulders with her. “Just comin' ta check on yah two and take a break. So, how's it goin' here? Mind a little help?”_ _

__Tooth giggled, fluttering up to whisper in Bunny's ear. Jack watched with suspicion as Bunny started laughing, even as he enjoyed the rare sound. “Okay, mind letting me in on the joke?”_ _

__“Did he really, Toothie?” Bunny said instead, grinning as he looked at Tooth, pretending to ignore Jack._ _

__“Oh yes. Not a clue what it's all for,” she said a touch smugly._ _

__“...you lookin' forward ta teachin' him?”_ _

__Tooth gave Jack a very unqueenly, naughty look and giggled. “Oh, most definetly,” she answered._ _

__“Should I be afraid? I get the feeling I should be afraid,” Jack said, looking between the two. They smirked at him, and he and the baby teeth exchanged looks. “Bad girlfriend!” he exclaimed, pointing at Tooth. “Bad girlfriend, you're not supposed to freak me out!”_ _

__Tooth and Bunny were laughing too hard to respond._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out of nowhere. It wasn't on the outline at all. Still...it was fun to write. I just couldn't get some of the scenes out of my head unless I wrote them all out.


	38. Walk on the Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Don't you think their hands were shaking_   
> _as that rocket ship touched down_   
> _I'm sure they shivered_   
> _when they finally touched the ground_   
> _The giant leap so fragile_   
> _that it hardly made a sound_   
> _But it must have been amazing_   
> _What a world they got to see_   
> _So I don't care, my foolish fear_   
> _Won't get the best of me_
> 
> _I'm Alive_   
> _Got one shot and I'm taking it to you_   
> _I'm Alive_   
> _I've come to realize not a moment too soon_   
> _This is my one small step_   
> _This is my Walk on the Moon_   
> _\- Great Big Sea, Walk on the Moon,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW1KP434sl8)_

Jack paced the guest suite at the Pole that had been transformed into the Groom's Suite for today. He and Tooth would have like to hold the wedding at Punjam Hy Loo, so even the Baby Teeth on duty could see, but in the end it simply wasn't able to accommodate everyone they'd been obligated to invite – to the reception, at the least. Too many were earthbound to be able to fit in the Tooth Palace, built for those who spent more time airborne than with their feet on the ground as it was.

North had set up a viewing crystal on the command central platform connected to one in the ballroom bower so the girls on duty could still watch, while the girls who were off duty darted about the Pole in a tizzy. 

All but Baby Tooth, who as Jack's Named daughter was flitting about the Groom's Suite in excitement. Jack had a feeling that the rest of them were having just as much of a hard time concentrating, though he didn't blame them, and neither did Tooth. Who _could_ blame them, really? 

Jack was grateful North had set up that crystal, he really was – it was just buried under a heaping pile of nerves at the moment. It was a good thing it had been unveiled long before today, so he and Tooth could both express their thanks when they were thinking straight, rather than today.

He and Tooth had done their best, and the other Guardians had stood by them, but in the end, two major spirits as powerful as they were getting wed was the Event of the century, and every spirit who was anyone had wanted – or in some cases, expected – to be there.

Tooth had claimed that the actual bonding had to be done with only family and close friends present, otherwise under Sister of Flight tradition it was not a true wedding. Jack was ninety nine percent sure she'd made that up wholesale, but he wasn't going to complain. Not when it was what they both wanted.

...then again, Sisters of Flight _had_ been very secretive. It was hard to tell, really. They'd rarely wed at all, so there was no one around who remembered a Sister of Flight wedding to gainsay Tooth's word.

They'd compromised on part of it – Tooth did have a need to show off her plumage and her mate's, and so they were going to be making an entrance and walking down the aisle before going into the bower North had created at one end of the ballroom with gauzy curtains to shield the actual ceremony from view.

Apparently, showing off your new mate was a Sister of Flight thing...or possibly just a Toothiana thing. 

Smiling at the thought, Jack glanced down at his hands, covered in henna designs. His feet were covered with them too, spiraling up his calves and forearms in designs similar to his frost. It had been important to Tooth that he have the designs inked all over him, and she and Bunny had had such fun doing it...

He glanced over at the clothes laid out for him on the bed and shifted, nervous and unready. Once he put those on, it'd all seem so much more real, despite the henna covering his skin. 

It wasn't how he'd pictured his wedding day...he'd always pictured it differently. Then again, when he'd last thought of marriage, before Tooth, he'd been mortal, in a colonial town – nothing even remotely similar to all of this.

The door was flung open before Jack could finish mourning the lack of his family here, on his special day, North striding in as loud as always, joyous and grinning so wide it looked like it should hurt.

“Jack!” North boomed, scooping Jack up into one of his rib cracking bear hugs. “Is big day, wonderful day, yes! Why aren't you dressed yet?”

Jack laughed breathlessly as North dropped him, bouncing a little as he landed. “Hey, North. Where's Bunny and Sandy?”

“Bunny is with Tooth, being big brother. Sandy is putting last touches on ballroom and ceremony site,” North answered, taking a cookie from the plate on the table by the door. 

He scanned a quick eye over the room, nodding in approval. The yeti had done a full one eighty on their opinion of Jack and had gone out of their way to make the rooms for both he and Tooth special for the day, with hangings on the walls and soft lighting transforming it from impersonal guest room to bower.

Jack was shifting nervously in the middle of the room, glancing up at North through his bangs in the way North had, over the past few years, learned meant 'I'm–really–glad–you're–here–but–I–won't–admit–it'. 

“Well, why aren't you dressed?” North repeated himself, poking Jack lightly in the chest and beaming. “Yeti work hard on clothes for today, can not get married in ancient hoodie and older pants!”

Jack laughed, touching the fabric folded on the bed with cautious fingers. Baby Tooth, perched on the bed by the clothes, chirped encouragingly as his hand traced over the shirt on top. It was finer than anything he'd ever owned before, and he was half afraid of wrecking it before the ceremony, fingers rough from years of handling his staff catching on the embroidery lining the collar.

Jack gave North a quick glance and grin before leaning his staff on the wall and picking up the clothes, ducking behind the screen in the corner.

“Yeti still annoyed you won't agree to let them make you wardrobe,” North commented in an offhand manner, as though trying to distract Jack from nerves.

From behind the screen Jack laughed, carefully stripping to preserve the admittedly ancient fabric of his pants. “They make it too fancy,” he protested. “I saw their designs for a proper Guardian outfit, and I couldn't play in those, North.”

“...will speak to yeti. If they make new designs, you try?”

“I'll look, but no promises,” Jack tossed back, tugging on the pants they'd sewn up for the wedding. They were short, like his usual pants, but not quite as tight. They still clung closely to his legs, and the hems were embroidered with swirling patterns in shades of white and blue that sparkled as his frost curled around them, enhancing both.

The new belt to go with them was silver blue leather, simple and unobtrusive, just like the old save coloring and wear.

The shirt felt strange after having worn his hoodie exclusively for so long. He may not have technically needed the hoodie or the thick cloth the new shirt was made from for warmth, but he appreciated the thought nevertheless. It was softer than wool, and lighter, and Jack decided not to question just what they used to make it. It was open necked and long, with long sleeves drawn close at the wrist, embroidery banding the sleeves, neckline, and hem, and Jack half wished he could wear it all the time. 

Still, when he played, he played hard, and yeti work or not there was no sense wearing something so fancy when it might be ruined.

He stepped out from behind the screen and gave a little turn, laughing. His frost glittered along with the embroidery, nerves making it heavier than usual. North laughed at his antics even as he threw a cloak around Jack's shoulders, fastening it at the neck almost formally. 

Jack reached up and fingered the clasp as North's hands settled on his shoulders. The cloak was new, too, a thick, rich, blue velvet that Jack would never have picked for himself but that somehow felt _right_ , now that it was fastened over his shoulders, already picking up frost.

He and North smiled at each other even as North brushed a touch of frost off Jack's shoulder. “Nervous?” he laughed, looking down at Jack with understanding eyes.

“Maybe a bit,” Jack laughed, scratching at the back of his head as North's arm came to rest around his shoulders, scooping up his staff and detouring just enough to pick up avery important box he'd laid on the table that he'd carved special for today.

“Nervous, but ready.”

 

Tooth flitted around the room, too excited and nervous to be still, almost too excited and nervous to get ready. The baby teeth that had come along with her were no better, flitting around even faster than their mother and getting in each others' way as they argued over the last minute decisions.

Bunny, sitting by the vanity, rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. “Nobody's gettin' hitched today if ya don't sit still an' get dolled up,” he said as sternly as he could though a mouth that kept insisting on trying to smile.

Tooth took another spin around the room before settling onto the backless stool in front of the vanity. Her feathers had already been groomed until they shone like emeralds, sliding into amethyst each time she moved, each beat of her wings casting sparkling jewels of light to dance around the room.

She chattered happily and aimlessly, Bunny nodding at the appropriate times as she began fastening the jewelry she'd brought along special for today. It had been her mother's wedding jewelry, kept safe for this day at Punjam Hy Loo rather than taken along when she and her husband had left to live among mortals.

The necklace draped over her shoulders and chest, ending in a high collar around her throat, the whole made up of tiny plates of gold set with gems that reflected her own feather colors. Bracelets and bracers circled her wrists, matching anklets around her ankles, in more gold, Bunny helping her with the ones on her ankles as she snapped the bracers around her wrists.

She paused before lifting the crown from the box it had stayed hidden in for years, staring at it, abruptly silent. She suddenly missed her mother with a pain that was almost physical. Her mother should have able to be here for this, to fasten the crown for her and watch her marry the spirit she'd finally found worthy of commitment.

Tooth started as Bunny took the crown from her hands gently, looking it over. “My mother was supposed to help me with it,” Tooth said quietly, “but I suppose a brother will do.”

Bunny's grin was rueful as he lifted the crown, a marvel of filigree and gemwork that mimicked the natural sweep of Tooth's feathers, as tall as the golden feather crowning it all, into place, laying over Tooth's natural crest. “Time ain't been kind ta any of us, Toothie.” He adjusted the chains that draped from the sides of the crown, giving one a little flick. “Makin' a difference now, though.”

Tooth reached up to touch the crown, fluttering up to look at herself in the mirror. The jewelry hung just as it should, and she smiled at Bunny in the mirror as he laid a hand on her shoulder, careful of fluttering wings.

“Think they'd all be proud of us today,” he said softly. “Still nervous?”

Tooth lifted her eyes from where she'd been examining the bracers around her wrists and the bracelets over them to meet his again, nodding firmly like the Queen she was. “Yes. But ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So...yes. Sugar-rush fluff. Did anyone else notice in the movie, when Tooth moves her legs, the feathers turn purplish? I had to have it pointed out to me.
> 
> Fluff Fluff extreme fluff and the beginning of the long-promised wedding. :) I swear I don't mean this things to come out as sappy as they do...


	39. Somebody's Getting Married

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Somebody get some flowers!_   
> _Somebody get a ring!_   
> _Somebody get a chapel and a choir to sing!_   
> _Somebody get an organ to play!_   
> _Cause somebody's getting married today!_
> 
> _Somebody get a preacher!_  
>  _Somebody bake a cake!_  
>  _Somebody get some shoes and rice and presents to take!_  
>  _Somebody get a sweet negilee!_  
>  _Cause somebody's getting married today!_
> 
> _Somebody get champagne!_  
>  _Somebody rent a room!_  
>  _Somebody get the lovely bride!_  
>  _And somebody get the-_  
>  _Somebody get the-_  
>  _Somebody somebody somebody somebody somebody--!_  
>  _Somebody get this wedding underway!_  
>  _Cus sue-one gettink marrink today!_  
>  _Somebody getting married....today!_  
>  _-Muppets Take Manhattan, Somebody's Getting Married,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFw4L7-AFdw)_

Jack took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, nerves making his breath come out in a frosty mist. He looked up at the doors to the ballroom, towering over him, and adjusted the cloak around himself nervously one last time before nodding, hand clenching around his staff as North opened the doors.

He knew Tooth was coming in the other side of the room at the same time he was, but with the sheer number of spirits in the room they wouldn't be able to see each other until they were at the bower. Fighting to keep the blush off his face, Jack set his eyes on the curtained enclosure and did his best to ignore the whispers around him, trying to focus instead on the music he and Tooth had picked out for the processional.

“Cleans up nice, don't he?”

“They'll be a pretty pair, don't you think?”

“Too bad the old customs are gone...yanno, makin' sure they consummate...”

There was a soft _thwap_ cutting off that comment, which Jack was grateful for. Any other comments were lost as he reached the front of the room and caught sight of Tooth.

There was vague recognition that Bunny was beside her, escorting Tooth to the bower much like North was him (a Sister of Flight tradition, to protect the couple about to bond from any that might have objected) but he couldn't have torn his eyes from Tooth to tell more than that.

He'd thought she glowed before, but it was nothing compared to now. Her feathers gleamed in the light, shimmering and sparkling like living jewels with each movement. The golden jewelry – that was new, but very pretty – shone in the light, and she looked every inch the Queen she was, and he was star struck and just a little intimidated all over again.

 

Tooth hovered outside the door to the ballroom, fussing with her jewelry one last time. She grinned widely at Bunny, hiding her nerves as he grinned back, opening the door as the first strains of the processional she and Jack had spent weeks casually debating sounded.

She heard the murmurs and comments as she passed down the aisle to where she would meet Jack and ignored them as best she could, only the occasional words and phrases heard over the buzzing of excitement and nerves in her chest.

“Lucky girl...”

“...not worth her time...”

“...both look so pretty...”

The faint voices dropped away as she came face to face with Jack. He looked like a fairy tale prince, Tooth thought, draped in velvet and embroidery...and if Bunny's chuckle was anything to go by, she was staring at him with the same awestruck expression he was giving her.

Bunny's chuckle snapped both of them out of it, blushing as they reached for each other's hands and stepping inside the curtains, shutting them out of the sight of the crowd of spirits lingering in the ballroom.

Inside the curtained bower it was quiet, feeling miles removed from the spirits outside, the air faintly cool and scented with incense. 

Tucked inside the bower were a much smaller group of spirits, close friends and near-family invited into the wedding proper. Cupid, near the front of the crowd, gave both Tooth and Jack a hearty wink and grin.

Both of them laughed, a quick, almost embarrassed sound, before turning back to look at each other. 

“Ready?” Tooth whispered, and Jack gave her hand a squeeze.

“So ready for this,” he whispered back. They turned to smile at North, who took it for the cue it was and stepped to stand behind them, facing the small group circled around the pair. 

“Friends!” he said expansively, arms thrown wide. “Today, we celebrate! Because now, two of our friends marry, and we get to witness!”

There were chuckles at North's enthusiasm even as Tooth took Jack's hands, taking a deep breath and hoping she hadn't really forgotten her vows.

Out in the main ballroom there was sudden yelling, loud enough to be heard through the sound dampening spells on the bowers curtains, and Tooth paused, all of them turning towards the curtains in confusion and anger.

Sandy opened the curtains a crack, looking out as the cries rose before suddenly tapering off. With a satisfied nod he turned back to the confused wedding party, nodding for them to continue.

Jack shrugged when Tooth glanced at him, just as baffled as she was. If Sandy said it was taken care of, though...

Shaking her head and taking another deep breath, Tooth turned her gaze to Jack, who was watching her, biting his lip nervously.

“Jack,” she began, “I know romances all say that being married is making two into one, but that would never be possible for two personalities as strong as ours. This isn't a joining, but a partnership. I never thought I would find a spirit willing to stand by me, to support me as I support them, until I met you. I want to face the years ahead of us by your side, fight alongside you, to laugh and play and dance and, yes, even argue with you.”

“I know I must be in love,” she added softly, “because I'm even looking forward to that. And that's what I promise you, Jack Frost,” she said in a normal volume, squeezing Jack's hands. 

Releasing Jack's hands, she opened the small box Bunny was holding for her, pulling out one of her feathers, connected to a chain and hair clip.

“I didn't think it would stay if I just braided it,” she whispered to Jack, who grinned and tilted his head so she could try and braid it in anyway.

Thankfully, more believers meant that Jack was 'alive' again – so his hair was growing as it used to. He'd trimmed most of it, but one section he'd let grow, just enough for a braid. It wasn't much, but it was enough. 

There were a few false starts – there hadn't been many opportunities for Tooth to practice, though Bunny had indulged her more than once, and she was distracted by the feel of Jack's silky soft hair in her hands and the intimate sensation of his breath on her cheek – before a short braid was twisted into the hair by Jack's temple, the feather standing out brightly against the white of his hair.

With a deep breath of his own, Jack took Tooth's hands to make his own vows. “Um...wow. Not sure I can match that,” he said softly, eyes dancing even as he tried to stay solemn. 

“Tooth, until North dragged me up here and tried to press gang me into being a Guardian, I thought I was always going to be alone. I want neither of us to ever have to be alone again, to be there to share the joy and pain and memories that we can have together. And that's what I promise you, Toothiana.”

He released her hands to open the box he'd brought down with him, pulling out a necklace that he clasped carefully around Tooth's throat over the collar she was wearing. Tooth looked down at it in wonder as Jack pulled back, reaching up to touch it. 

“It's my never-melting ice,” Jack whispered. “If it's too cold when you're not wearing that,” he said with a nod to the chest-covering collar she was wearing, “let me know, I'll think of...of something,” he finished with a half smile.

“These might help,” Tooth whispered back. Taking his cue, Sandy held out a small box with two rings nestled inside. Caught off guard, Jack pressed his hand to his mouth, determinedly telling himself he would not cry.

“North made them for us,” Tooth said, still quiet. “It wasn't...fair, that we did everything in my traditions, no matter how much you may have agreed.”

“I...thank you,” was all Jack could get out, looking up at North. North smiled back, one of his rare, soft, genuine smiles as Jack looked back at the box, carefully pulling out the smaller ring.

He looked it over as Sandy offered the box to Tooth. It was flat, so it wouldn't catch on anything – important, when he and Tooth both used their hands so much and he, in particular, needed every bit of grip he had for his staff – and covered with delicate carvings of snowflakes and the baby teeth.

It was superior craftsmanship, and the glance he sent to North told the other spirit just how Jack felt about this gift on this day of days. 

Still smiling, Tooth picked up Jack's left hand and slid the ring into place. “With this ring, I thee wed,” she said, feathers fluffing and smoothing with pride.

The grin Jack gave her was blinding as he slid her ring into place on her finger, repeating proudly, “With this ring, I thee wed.” Vows said, he lifted her hand to brush a kiss over the ring, and Tooth felt her heart flutter like her wings.

He bent, kissing her gently, almost chastely, as their friends cheered. Their cheers rose to a roar as she darted upwards, throwing her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss, making Jack stumble before catching himself and holding her close, squeezing as her momentum spun them in midair.

Tooth laughed softly as he pulled back just enough to look Jack in the eyes. “Hey,” she whispered. “Husband-mine.”

“Hey,” he whispered back. “Wife-mine.”

“Ready to go face all the well wishers?”

“...is it too late to elope?”

Tooth laughed as, hand in hand, they turned to their family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I swear I tried to keep it from getting too sweet, but it's a wedding! They're the definition of sweet!  
>  Should be one more chapter to go, still writing it. Trying to do something for Halloween threw everything off.


	40. At The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _We were strangers, starting out on a journey_   
>  _Never dreaming, what we'd have to go through_   
>  _Now here we are, I'm suddenly standing_   
>  _At the beginning with you_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _No one told me I was going to find you_  
>  _Unexpected, what you did to my heart_  
>  _When I lost hope, you were there to remind me_  
>  _This is the start_
> 
>  
> 
> _And life is a road that I wanna keep going_  
>  _Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing_  
>  _Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey_  
>  _I'll be there when the world stops turning_  
>  _I'll be there when the storm is through_  
>  _In the end I wanna be standing_  
>  _At the beginning with you_  
>  _\- Anastasia, At The Beginning,[Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zspz-zqeNbg)_

There were cheers as the curtains pulled back from the bower, and Tooth felt Jack's hand tighten on hers. Despite everything, he still had trouble with too much attention on him at once.

Still, he stayed beside Tooth as the spirits came forward in ones and twos to congratulate them, accepting the handshakes and pats to the back with grace and smiles.

Or at least, as much grace as Jack could muster. He kept exchanging glances with Tooth, the two of them giggling, almost deliriously happy and refusing to let a bit of awkwardness bring them down. Today was a day for joy, not for resentments, and nothing was going to interfere in that.

After greeting the new couple spirits drifted off, to the buffet North had provided or the edges of the dance floor as the yeti cleared away the chairs they had waited in, mingling and talking softly.

The congratulations seemed to go on forever, but finally they came to the last spirits and the pair were left alone for the moment. Tooth tugged on Jack's hand and they drifted over toward the buffet, where a yeti handed them cups of water when they passed on the more substantial beverages. 

They wanted to remember tonight, not have their memories clouded by anything.

Hands clasped, they stood leaning against each other as they looked over the assembled spirits. 

Humming contentedly, Tooth rested her head on Jack's shoulder and trailed a finger across the embroidery on his tunic, careful not to spill her water on him. “So the yeti finally got you in one of their creations, hm?”

He shrugged with his free shoulder. “It's better than things they've tried before. North says they're willing to listen now if I'm willing to talk. I might yet. You look amazing. That's some jewelry.”

“It was my mother's,” Tooth said softly, not moving from her spot on his shoulder. She felt him press a kiss to her crown covered forehead and drew back to look up at him.

“Think she would've liked me?”

“She could be very...formal,” Tooth answered finally. “She'd have loved you. If only because you can't be formal for more than a few minutes at a time at best.”

Jack gave a little hum at that and they were quiet again, looking over the gathering. North had promised them a first dance, and they were both looking forward to it, but there was a certain amount of mingling happening before the music and real party got going.

“Wonder what that was earlier...” Jack wondered aloud. Tooth's wings flicked as she remembered that burst of sound just before the ceremony, eyes narrowing as she continued to look over the crowd, this time wondering who had caused that disturbance.

“Call it my wedding gift,” said a smooth, accented voice from behind them, and they spun in shock to see Pitch Black examining the offerings of the buffet and looking rather pleased with himself.

“Pitch, what,” Tooth began to hiss, pausing when he held up a placating hand.

“Sandy invited me, as his 'plus one',” Pitch said. “I wasn't going to come, but he was most insistent. As for earlier, it seems one of the older spirits thought one of you not good enough for this marriage...or wanted one of you for themselves, it was a bit hard to tell. They weren't being clear, but they were being loud and attempting to storm the ceremony. So I removed them from the Pole before they could disturb the proceedings. As I said, my gift to you.”

“Um...thank you?” Jack finally said after a few awkward moments. Pitch sniffed and nodded before a stream of golden sand snaked its way around Jack, wrapping around Pitch's wrist.

To the surprise of both Jack and Tooth, Pitch's face seemed to go several shades darker as Sandy appeared, giving the married couple a giant grin and a wink before tugging on the sand leash, drawing Pitch after him.

“...was Pitch just...blushing?” Jack asked, he and Tooth glancing between each other and the direction Sandy had dragged Pitch off in. 

“I...do believe so,” Tooth answered, hardly able to believe what she'd just seen. Her confusion was cut off as the first strains of music began, and she grabbed Jack's hand, her grin only matched by his in its brilliance and joy. “Let's go, husband-mine!”

They knew North was announcing them, introducing them as a married couple, but for those few minutes all that existed was each other and the music. Everything else, from the gazes of the attendees, the murmurs of their conversation, faded away as they spun around the floor with eyes only for each other, the kind of magical dance Jack had laughingly brushed off as only existing in fairytale movies.

As all perfect moments must, it eventually came to an end as the song stopped, the pair coming back to earth – both literally and figuratively, as their feet had left the ground halfway through the song. They'd never noticed, too wrapped up in the feel of feathers and frost and each other to realize they were dancing on air.

There was scattered applause and good-natured catcalls and encouragements before other dancers began to join them on the dance floor. 

They never could tell, later, how long they spent dancing. Eventually there were requests to dance with the bride and groom, and they separated for dances, only to reunite later. 

 

Later on, while dancing with an ecstatic Cupid, Tooth caught Jack's eye from across the room as he paused for a drink. Holding her gaze, his cheeks frosted over lightly as he raised his hand, brushing a kiss over the ring adorning his finger.

Tooth's cheeks flushed brighter than North's suit as Cupid laughed and cooed over the pair of them.

 

Later they would have to use Tooth's position as the Guardian of Memories to properly remember the whole night. Whenever they tried to remember it, it seemed to flash by in highlights – Bunny laughing, head thrown back at something North had said, Sandy pulling a willing Pitch around the dance floor in a strange tango. The jingling of elf bells as they ran pell-mell through the crowd, gods and goddesses, spirits of every shape and creed dancing and flirting, and the moon glowing through the skylight over all of them like a silver benediction.

And every inch bursting with overwhelming, overflowing joy.

 

No one would say they lived happily ever after, for that was too cliché, too trite for them, and a Guardian's life would always be full of danger and heartbreak alongside the joy and the love – but they certainly gave it their best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, finally at the end. It's been a real ride. To be honest, when I started this fic, I expected it to cap out at about ten chapters. Oops.
> 
> I'll be editing these end notes later to have a link to the 8track and downloadable playlist of the songs I used in this fic. Hope everyone enjoyed the ride with me!
> 
> Edit - 8track wouldn't let me upload the playlist, as there's too many songs by one artist on it. A download link can be found here: http://phenyxsnest.tumblr.com/post/102394416294/only-the-music-download-link-only-seems-as

**Author's Note:**

> The elephant’s child is from Rudyard Kipling’s _Just So Stories_ , “How the Elephant Got Its Trunk” and it was “filled with ‘satiable (insatiable) curiosity”. Just like Jack, really.  
> Somehow, this sorta grew on me from a quick little one-shot into a long fic as I kept getting inspired with having each chapter be tied to/inspired by a song. It's not finished yet, but I wanted to start posting what is done. I hope someone likes it so far.  
> The fic as a whole is inspired by “Only the Music” by Heather Alexander: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbhxYasw3Bw  
> This chapter is “Thank You For the Music” by ABBA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n_1nOFTx5E should you wish to hear it while reading. :)


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